Author 




o 
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Title 



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16—47372-3 GPO 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



BULLETIN. 1922, No. 15 



A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GRADE 
CURRICULUM 



BY A SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE 

BUREAU OF EDUCATION COMMITTEE 

OF THE 

INTERNATIONAL KINDERGARTEN 

UNION 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1922 



^am^my ■ 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



BULLETIN, 1922, No. 15 



A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GRADE 
CURRICULUM 



BY A SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE 

BUREAU OF EDUCATION COMMITTEE 

OF THE 

INTERNATIONAL KINDERGARTEN 

UNION 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1922 






(A 



ADDITIONAL COPIES 

OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM 

THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 

AT 

10 CENTS PER COPY 



LIBRARY OF CONQKiiS 

0CT20t9i?g 

0OOUM6NT6 DIVISION 



\tmiM 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Foreword — Nina C. Vandeivalkcr v 

Chapter I. — General statement — Luella A. Palmer 1 

Chapter II. — Subject material: Community life and nature study — Luella 

A. Palmer 3 

Chapter III. — Reading — Louise F. Specht 17 

Chapter IV. — Writing — Louise F. Specht 28 

Chapter V. — Language — Florence C. Fox 30 

Chapter VI. — Literature — Florence C. Fox 36 

Chapter VII. — Industrial and fine arts— Marion S. Hanekel and Ella 

Victoria Dobbs 41 

Chapter VIII. — Number — Alice L, Harris 52 

lU 



FOREWORD. 



The need for a first-grade curriculum based upon the work of the modern 
kindergarten has been frequently expressed, and the curriculum here presented 
is an effort to meet that need. It follows the Kindergarten Curriculum whicli 
was published as a Bureau of Education bulletin in 1919 and is organized on 
the same general principle and the same plan. It is intended prinmrily for 
two groups of people — first-grade teachers of children who have had a year of 
kindergarten work, and kindergarten-primary supervisors who wish to organize 
the work Of the kindergarten and primary grades on the same principle. This 
curriculum should also have value for kindergarten teachers by showing them 
how their work functions as a preparation for that which is to follow. Those 
who use this curriculum should have the Kindergarten Curriculum at hand for 
reference, since the work suggested for the first grade is based on that described 
in the Kindergarten Curriculum. The committee which prepared the present 
curriculum took pains not to repeat what had been given in the former one. 

The Kindergarten-First-Grade Curriculum has been prepared in the hope 
that it will help to strengthen the work of the schools at a point that needs 
material strengthening — the work at the beginning. The fact that such weak- 
ness exists is shown by the appalling number of failures in the first grade — one 
in every four in the average city throughout the country. There are several 
reasons for this weakness, some of which are administrative and can not be 
discussed here. One of the chief reasons, however, is found in the character 
of the curriculum. This is too often the traditional curriculum, barren of 
content, and dealing only with the tools of learning. Such a curriculum for 
first-grade children, however, lags far behind current educational thought. A 
modern curriculum for this grade has a thought content based upon children's 
interests and experiences, which motivates their activities and calls for the 
use of the school arts — ^language, reading, number, and manual activities — as 
forms of expression. Such a curricidum, in fact, implies the project type of 
education. 

The kind of education here indicated has been accepted as the true type 
for children of kindergarten age ; and the recognition of the period from 4 to 
8 years as psychologically one involved the indorsement of this type for the 
early primary grades also. The changes now in progress in the direction of 
a more vital type of education in these grades serve as evidence of that 
indorsement. The changes needed to work out the ideas involved in the term 
" the kindergarten primary unit " have been made in some cities and are in 
process in many others. The beginnings are still far from what they should 
be on the whole, however, because the changes from the formal academic type 
of the past to the more vital type which present-day educational theory calls 
for have not become sufficiently general. To bring this change about is the 
outstanding problem in early elementary education. It has received and is 
receiving tlioughtful attention from several groups of people. Among these is 
the National Council of Primary Education. The advocates of the project 
method constitute another group. The kindergarten and primary supervisors 
feel a special responsibility for its solution, since the problem lies so largely In 

V 



VI A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM, 

their field. The Kindergarten-First-Grade Curriculum is offered as a contribu- 
tion to the movement for a more vital type of education for the early elemen- 
tary grades. 

It is hoped that the publication of these two curricula will stimulate 
kindei'garten and first-grade teachers to study and work together at their 
common problems. Such a study will help kindergarten teachers to realize 
more fully how they can best prepare tlieir children for the work that is to 
follow their own, and first-grade teachers to see how they can utilize the 
children's kindergarten attainments most effectively. If this is done there 
will be no break between the work of the kindergarten and that of the first 
grade, as there has frequently been in the past. The break in question was 
sometimes due to the one-sided training of the kindergarten or grade teachers, 
or both, which gave each a knowledge of her own line only without an ac- 
quaintance with that of the other. At present normal school courses for those 
who wish to teach in the early elementary grades are nearly all kindergarten- 
primary courses in which all who take them are given a knowledge of the 
work from the beginning in the kindergarten to or through the first three 
grades. This is another way in which the adoption of the kindergarteu- 
primai'y unit idea will contribute to the improvement of the beginning work. 
There are many teachers now in service, however, who have been trained 
exclusively as kindergarten or grade teachers only, and therefore lack the 
common viewpoint needed for the best work. Many primary teachers have 
found the Kindergarten Curriculum of service in giving them a knowledge of 
the kindergarten that their training did not give them, and it is hoped that the 
Kindergarten-First-Grade Curriculum may be of corresponding service. 

The two curricula together constitute an effort made by the kindergarten 
teachers of the country to help the kindergarten to function more effectively 
as a part of the school system and thereby to aid in strengthening the be- 
ginnings of education. This effort has been made through a committee of 
the International Kindergarten Union, designated as the Bureau of Educa- 
tion committee, and two subcommittees appointed by it. One of these sub- 
committees prepared the material for the Kindergarten Curriculum, and an- 
other the material for the Kindergarten-First-Grade Curriculum. The credit 
for the latter must be given in large part, however, to the effort of a group 
of experts in primary education who have cooi>erated with the kindergarten 
members to make it possible. The members of this subcommittee are as fol- 
lows: 

Luella A. Palmer, chairman, director of kindergartens. New York, N, Y, 

Julia Wade Abbot, specialist in kindergarten education, Bureau of Educa- 
tion, Washington, D, C. 

Bertha Barwis, supervisor of Kindergarten and Primary Grades, Trenton, 
N. J. 

Corinne Brown, instructor in normal training department. Ethical Cultura 
School, New York, N. Y. 

Ella Victoria Dobbs, assistant professor of industrial arts. University of 
Missouri, Columbia, Mo. 

Florence C. Fox, specialist in educational systems, Bureau of Education, 
Washington, D. C. 

Marion S. Hanckel, supervisor of kindergarten and first grades, Richmond, 
Va. 

Alice L. Harris, assistant superintendent of schools, Worcester, Mass. 

Gail Harrison, first grade teacher, Lincoln School, New York, N. Y. 

Louise F. Specht, assistant principal Public School 61, Manhattan, N. Y. 



FOREWORD. Vn 

In working out the second curriculum tlie subcommittee followed the same 
general plan of procedure as that adopted by the subcommittee on the Kinder- 
garten Curriculum, The scope and plan of the new curriculum, and the part 
that each was to take, were agreed upon at the first general conference held 
by the subcommittee. It was also agreed that the general plan of organization 
adopted for the Kindergarten rurriculum be followed in the new curriculum. 
The plan of submitting the tentative chapters to all the other members and 
to the members of the Bureau of Education committee as a whole for comment 
and criticism was also followed. Two of the members have served in an 
advisory capacity only. The curriculum as it stands is a composite product 
representing the thought and effort of 26 leaders in kindergarten and primary 
education. 

This curriculum, like that for the kindergarten, expresses certain principles 
as to aims, materials, and methods which the committee members believe to be 
essential to all valid educational procedure. These have still but a limited 
application in the work of the grades because of the many external restrictions. 
The suggestions made in this curriculum are in the direction of their further 
application. This gives it an additional value, and the connnittee hopes that 
those who use it will make an effort to carry out the principles in question. Its 
use can be suggestive only, and for this reason no mention has been made of 
time schedules or proportiona.te amounts of time to be given to the different 
subjects. The committee hopes that the kindergarten and primai'y supervisors 
will work out the problems suggested, and that they will work out a correspond- 
ing curriculum for the grades beyond. 

Nina C. Vandewalker, 
Specialist in Kinderyarten Education, 
Chairman of Bureau of Education Committee. 



A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 



Chapter I. 
GENERAL STATEMENT. 

By LUELLA A. PAI.MER. 

The same general characteristics of childhood run through the whole period 
of kindergarten and first grade. There is a constant growth of experience, 
principally through first-hand contact. Curiosity is still keen in the activities 
of the immediate surroundings. The desire and need for physical activity are 
still strong. Control over materials is still in an immature stage. 

There is, however, a marked difference in the degree of development along 
these lines between an entering kindergarten child and a first-grade child. The 
child of 6 brings to his interpretation of experience the added knowledge that 
he has gained during the previous two years in the kindergarten. He has a 
broader and more intelligent interest in and understanding of the more educa- 
tional phases of his social and natural environment. His curiosity is on a 
higher level, relating more to social uses and purposes of things rather than to 
their appearance and individual response. A kindergarten-trained child is eager 
for new experiences that give him the opportunity for adding knowledge and 
skill. Physical activity is better coordinated and mentally organized, and the 
control gained gives the power to work with greater concentration, accuracy, and 
persistency. While the child's efforts still give immature results, he will have 
gained the ability to express his ideas in forms approximating those of the 
adult. The kindergarten-trained child brings to the first grade a mental de- 
velopment which aids him in interpreting any new experiences and expressing 
his ideas about them ; he is able not only to hold to his individual purpose and 
to work consistently and independently toward it, but he will also accept the 
common purpose of his group and do his share toward accomplishing it. 

About the sixth year there is a dawning interest in symbols for reading, 
writing, and number. This is usually accepted as the test for entrance into the 
first grade, and where conditions make it possible the child should be advanced 
to that grade. However, when promotions are made but once a year, a child 
is sometimes retarded by denying him the opportunity to read when his interest 
is awakening in this activity. Under such circumstances a kindergarten teacher 
might introduce reading into the kindergarten for the few advanced children 
who desire it, or the grade teacher might accept in the first year the children 
who have not quite awakened to the desire to read, but who will probably do so 
within a few months after promotion. As a general rule a child who can pass 
the intelligence te&ts for the sixth year is eager to attempt reading. If the 
character of the procedure in the kindergarten and first grade is much alike, a 
child can be advanced when he shows adaptability for the more difficult work. 
Tests at intervals of three months and regrading are very necessary at this 
period, if children are to develop the habit of using the full power of their 
minds. 

1 



2 A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 

The interests that ai'e just emerging at the first^rade period are a desire to 
learn ahout experiences different from those actually encountered in everyday 
life and a faint di'sire for drill. Even at the end of the year these are only 
tendencies and not traits developed to a marked degree. 

The primary curriculum should differ from the kindergarten curriculum be- 
cause of the changed experiences and interests of the children and the better 
organization of their activity. There should be fewer separate centers of 
interest during the year ; attention should dwell longer upon one phase of 
experience, and it should be treated more widely in its different relations and 
somewhat more in detail. Activities that have been in the focus of atten- 
tion during tlie kindergarten peiuod have now become matters of habit and 
can be used for larger purposes. A greater amount of technique can be intro- 
duced to make expression more adequate. 

A slight change in school procedure may also be introduced in the first 
grade. As a child's thought is better organized his activities can be more 
consciously differentiated and definite periods set aside for handwork, reading, 
games, etc. These should not be treated as distinct and separate subjects, 
but merely as opportunities for showing different phases of the same experi- 
ence. Tlie full meaning of each activity will be found only in its relation to 
other activities. 

The following first-grade curriculum is designed for children who have had 
training similar to that suggested in the Kindergarten Curriculum. It pre- 
supposes the broadening and intensifying of everyday interests through the 
social participation in the kindergarten. It also presupposes acquaintance 
with certain easily procured and commonly used materials and the acquisition 
of a certain amount of skill in their use. It aims to show how to make use 
of a vitalized subject matter so that a child's thinking and acting will im- 
prove and in such a way that power will be developed for continued improve- 
ment and a desire aroused to attempt it. Children at this age are at the 
stage when they are very susceptible to suggestion. Interests and behavior 
are readily modified by the emotional accompaniment of an activity. Interest 
in school and school habits can be either aroused or deadened and a lasting 
impression made which will either aid or retard a child's future school progress. 

The general form of this curriculum is similar to that of the Kindergarten Cur- 
riculum ; it is divided into svibject material and the diffei'ent activities needed 
to control it and to make it a part of experience at this age. Tlie form for the 
different phases of activity al.so follows the same general outline as the Kin- 
dergarten Curriculum ; they are discussed under aims, subject matter, method, 
and attainments. 

As this curriculum is intended for children who have had kindergarten train- 
ing, in schools where such training is not provided the first year subjects 
must be approached in a different way. The child who enters school for the 
first time in the first grade is usuaally less organized in thought and ex- 
pression than the kindergarten-trained child ; he has not developed good mental 
habits or control over useful materials. Under these conditions the best train- 
ing can be given through use of the kindergarten method. It is less intensive; 
it permits of consideration of more incidental interests, each taken up for a 
shorter period and in a less detailed way. 



Chapter 11. 

SUBJECT MATERIAL: COMMUNITY LIFE AND NATURE 

STUDY. 

By LuEXLA A. Palmer. 



The subject material for both kindergarten and first grade is drawn princi- 
pally from the immediate surroundings. The keenest interest is taken in the 
activities which the child feels have an appreciable effect upon his comfort 
and pleasure. The main difference between the two grades is in the manner in 
which they are considered. In the kindergarten the subject matter was gained 
through response to an immediate situation, response to the day's happenings 
in school and neighborhood. While much subject matter is gained in the first 
grade also by somewhat impulsive response to the vivid attraction of the 
moment, interest has deepened in some phases of experience, attention is held 
in these directions, more details are desired and better control over the subject. 
Subject matter begins to be acquired around certain clearly defined interesting 
centers. 

AIMS. 

The general aims of the first-grade subject material are the same as those 
of the Kindergarten Curriculum. The specific aims will vary. 

(1) "To encourage interest in the significant phages of the environment." 
A selection will be made of a few phases to suggest in detail the intensive con- 
sideration that can be given in the first grade. 

(2) " To correct, extend, interpret, and organize experience." More reference 
will be made to interpretations from sources outside of the immediate surround- 
ings, to the use of the contributions from excursions and experiences of others. 
Suggestions will be given for the beginning of the use of books as guides. 

(3) " To cultivate desirable attitudes and hahits." Moi-e reasoning, inde- 
pendence, responsibility, and social participation will be required. 

In order that these purposes may be accomplished most successfully, the 
activities carried on in the first grade must utilize and elaborate the experi- 
ences obtainetl in the kindergarten. With each class the primary teacher should 
receive from the kindergarten teacher a list of the individual habits developed, 
skills acquired, with samples of work, songs, and stories heard and learned, 
games played, and pictures enjoyed. 

SUBJECT MATTER. 

The selection of the subject matter will be made on the same basis as in the 
kindergarten curriculum, because (1) it appeals to the child and (2) also has 
a value in social life. Fewer phases of experience will be discussed, and these 
in a more intensive way. Incidental experiences will have a place, but not as 

3 



4 A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 

often as in the kindergarten. Tlie ne'w interest in reading makes tliis activity 
subject matter in itself. It is enjoyed unrelated to any topic under consid- 
eration. 

The room equipment needed for gaining the subject matter through activities 
as suggested will include the following : 

Work bench, carpenter's tools, as saw, hammer and nails, vise, plane, sand- 
paper, screw driver and screws, ruler, wood of various lengths and thickness, 
miter box, glue. 

Toy closet, dolls, doll house, balls, large and small blocks, dominoes, trains, 
wagons, ropes. 

Materials and tools such as cloth of different kinds, needles, thread, pins, 
scissors, tape, yarn, crochet needle, paper of different colors, cardboard, paste, 
crayons, paints and brushes, clay boxes, spools, tin foils, sticks, buttons, milk 
bottle tops, paper fasteners, string. 

Library shelf or table, picture books, story books, word puzzles, number 
games. 

Printing set or price .and sign marker, typewriter. 

Window shelf for plants and bulbs, other nature materials. 

Sand box or table for group construction. 

Choice pictures, flag on pole. 

Screen or easel for hanging reading charts or- incidental pictures. 

Blackboard space or easel with large sheets of paper for drawing. 

Lockers with individual compartments for preserving children's work. 

Musical instruments, such as clappers, triangle, drum xylophone, and other 
percussion instruments. 

Apparatus, slidte, seesaw, knotted rope swing. 

Additional equipment will be suggested under separate activities. 

METHOD. 

The method of presenting for the child's consideration the subject matter 
within the home, community life and nature, and for enriching it, is as follows : 

(1) Use of objects in the dail.v classroom environment, experiences with 
objects introduced to arouse profitable lines of interest and curiosity, recall of 
familiar experiences through conversation, dramatization, or trip to investigate 
social phases of experience. 

(2) Activities carried on as reaction to material or other stimuli provided, 
experiences in manipulating and in expressing ideas through play or concrete 
form. 

(3) Additional experiences provided for interpreting and reorganizing ideas 
about the immediate environment, such as excursions, pictures, stories, books. 

While the general method is the same as in the Kindergarten Curriculum, 
a difference should be made because of the change in the child's development 
due to the enriching and organizing of his experiences in the kindergarten. 
When watching tlie growth of a plant the first-grade children should be called 
upon to observe more closely than the children in the kindergarten. A more 
developed type of curiosity should be aroused and ideas expressed more accu- 
rately. In working out a project in the first grade greater thought should be 
demanded on tlie part of the child ; he should outline his purposes more clearly, 
and his expression should show greater control over material. A larger share 
of the time should be devoted to working out group experiences. The experi- 
ences of the other children and adults shouhl be listened to intelligently and 
comparisons made. Occasionally interpretations and information may be sought 
from books. 



COMMUNITY I.TFE AND NATURE STUDY. 5 

SUBJECT MATTER OUTLINE. 

The Kindergarten Curriculum suggested subject mat*>rial found in sucli a 
ricti environment tliat for cliildren in less favored conditions it would require 
at least part of tlie tirst grade to cover it. iSome advanced subject material 
is included for children wlio have had wide experiences, such as those outlined 
in the Kindergarten Curriculum. 

As children are less dependent than in the kindergarten upon the immediate 
contact with material to provide centers of interest, they may often start 
with an idea which has a strong permanent interest rather than with what is 
momentarily vivid. These chosen lines of investigation may be followed some- 
what consciously ; as the children are less controlled by incidental condi- 
tions, they can keep their attention focused for a short while on some one 
line of thought. They can plan moi'e definitely for some near future event 
and secure a more evident climax to their activity. 

Units of study grow out of the natural life activities in which children are 
interested ; they are phases of child experience which can he used education- 
ally. They may be such as follow: Our classroom, a house for the dolls, our 
village,** the grocery, the farm, harvest, transportation, Thanksgiving, snow, 
Christmas, animal pets, the post office, Washington's Birthday, spring clothing, 
planting and gardeninj^ birds and their nesting, Easter, May Day, Arbor Day, 
Memorial Day, zoo', and park. Interest may also center around the dramatiza- 
tion of short stories, such as the Three Bears or Sleeping Beauty. Other 
valuable subject matter can be found within the environment of particular 
schools, for instance, the industry in a particular section, as cotton raising in 
tlie South or orange growing in the AVest. Sometimes the arrival of a circus or 
fair will give occasion for educational activity. 

It would not be possible to consider in one year all of the units of study ; 
nor is it intendeil that they should be singled out of the children's experience 
for study in the order given. In making her plans each teacher nmst take into 
consideration these three things : 

(1) She must determine which phases of the child's experience are of the 
most vital interest and educational value to her particular group. The teacher 
must know the kind of subject matter that lies within the experience of her 
own children or can be brought within it. 

(2) The teacher nnist consider when and how she can arouse unusual inter- 
est in these particular phases of the child's daily life. She must always be 
ready to accept and follow some unexpected lead which promises rich results ; 
she must be quick to discern when the interest is so keen that enthusiasm 
would carry the children further. 

The child's interest is a general guide for sequence, but at times there may 
be a conflict of interests when the teacher's maturer judgment is required to 
n)ake the decision. For instance, children might become nmch interested in 
trains or boats about the time of the harvest. As the need of planning for 
Christmas is near by, the teacher would interrupt the carrying on of this 
play and turn the children's thoughts toward the coming festival. The train 
or boat play might be revived later when a child brought to school his Christ- 
mas gift of a toy train. Such events as festivals represent climaxes toward 
which the teacher can always work ; they are occasions toward which tlie child 
eagerly turns his attention because of the widespread family and conmiunity 
interest. 

(3) Lastly, a teacher must watch her children to determine how long one 
phase or experience should continue to be a subject for particular study. She 
must try to sustain the attention only as long as serviceable knowledge is 



6 A KINDEEGARTEN-FIRST-GEADE CURRICULUM. 

eagerly added and good mental habits promoted. The length of time will 
usually depend upon the amount of elementary knowledge and easy activity 
to be found within the topic. The pha.ses that are dealt with and the detaiis 
introduced must depend upon the type of interest of the particular children 
and their degree of development, ffieir power to concentrate, analyze, relate, 
and carry on one type of activity. 

For an average 6-year-old child the interest in the above topics will be sus- 
tained for about two weeks, possibly longer, and then the subject Avill pass 
out of the focus of attention and be revived occasionally or brought up inci- 
dentally in connection with other topics. If the children are more mature they 
will wish to include more details in their study of a certain topic ; this will 
necessitate a selection of topics, and a choice should be made of those that 
are not only of vital interest to the children, but within which there can be 
found nmch socially serviceable knowledge. 

These units of study are not "centers of correlation"; they are not to be 
used exclusively while under consideration. Parallel with interest in these 
phases of daily life will go interest in materials, in activities themselves. For 
instance, just before Easter the children may be eager to read a new story, to 
make Easter cards and baskets, to draw a poster picturing some coming event 
in the school or community, to use the new domino game, and to practice a 
dance just created by one of the children. Individual children may be making 
doll's dresses, kites, costumes for a dramatization, or flower picture books. 
The kindergarten curriculum indicates the way that several lines of interest 
run parallel in living out the normal child life in the classroom. 

Each of the following units of study represent some interesting phase of the 
child's experience. Possible ways will be suggested for directing particular 
attention to such phase, for singling it out for detailed consideration. Activities 
will be indicated that emphasize the subject matter within such experiences 
suitable for children of the first grade. The subject matter which can be 
learned will be given, and the habits that can be formed in relation to the 
experience. 

EXPLANATION. 

Fall projects. 

Our classroom. — When a child returns to his school in September, after vaca- 
tion, he finds himself in a new room. While the equipment is similar to that 
of the kindergarten room, the teacher is strange, the chairs and tables are 
higher, tliere are more books and more pictures with words. A child feels him- 
self different because he has been " promoted." 

This new room presents itself as offering occasion for much pleasureable 
activity. A child enjoys dusting it. cleaning the blackboards, and straightening 
the closets. He likes to arrange the books on the shelf, to cover them, and to 
mark his own with his name. He likes to learn how to read the time from the 
clock, how to read the temperature from the thermometer, and to note it on the 
blackboard. He enjoys discussing with the. teacher the most attractive place 
to hang a picture. He vies with his playmates in producing bulletins or posters 
showing the interesting news of the day. He wants to arrange the flowers and 
make decorations for the walls and blackboards. He likes to hem and stencil 
the curtains. He feels it a privilege to wash and iron the doll's clothes and to 
care for plants and animals. 

The subject matter to be found within such activities is very evident ; hygiene 
in connection with cleanliness and temperature ; science in experimenting with 
the thermometer in the sim and shade, in snow and on the radiator ; civics in 



COMMUNITY LIFE AND NATURE STUDY. 7 

the care of community property ; nature study in connection with care of plants 
and animals ; art in the neatly arranged possessions and in the harmonious 
decorations ; manual training in the making of pencil boxes and the care of 
tools ; up-to-date information in the making of posters. 

The child's relationship to others offers valuable subject matter which is 
gradually acquired throughout the year. For his own comfort and self-esteem 
he must gain the approval of the teacher by coming with clean hands, face, and 
clothing, with nails cleaned and shoes brushed. If materials are provided he 
will become interested in sewing on his buttons, putting tape on coat, making 
aprons for clay work, pockets for handkerchiefs, bags for rubbers. As he asso- 
ciates with the older children he finds that he must wait his turn, that some- 
times he needs their help and that sometimes he can help them ; he learns his 
place in a little community and gains working knowledge of the qualities that 
are most desiralile for good citizenship. A friendly competition may be started 
to see wlio will add most to his own height and weight record. By this means 
a child may begin the appraisal of food values in such a way that his knowledge 
will have everyday application. He will find the relation of his own little 
democracy to other units of school society when a story is dramatized and 
played for an older class, or when he helps to make valentines for the kinder- 
garten children. 

The habits developed will be caring for health and personal appearance, tak- 
ing an intelligent interest in surroundings, caring for individual and community 
possession, planning and promoting an attractive environment, associating 
amicably and helpfully with others. 

The doll's house. — In the kindergarten the children probably made individual 
doll's houses. This year the interest may be directed toward making one large 
house which many of the children can unite in building and furnishing. The 
idea may arise in different ways. It may start when several children join in 
building a large house with blocks and then desire to have something more 
permanent which they can add to and make more complete. The idea often 
is suggested by a large wooden box being brought into tlie classroom. Some- 
times the stimulus is a doll or dolls for whom furniture is made. Then comes 
the thought of the proper place for furniture. 

If the building of the doll's house is to be a cooperative scheme there must 
be quite definite planning; the number of rooms and the size and location of 
each must be considered before the work is begun. Designs can be drawn for 
wall paper and choice made of that which is most suitable and pretty. The 
children will consult on the kinds of furniture needed and the proportions ; the 
different articles will then be chosen by or assigned to different children. Any 
special ability in doing certain kinds of work should be recognized. 

Conversation and investigation will center around the materials used in con- 
structing buildings, reasons for each, ways houses are built for sanitation, 
convenience and Iteauty, purposes of windows, running water and its source, 
methods of heating houses, qualities of good buildings and good workers. As 
the interior is being furnished, the children will consult on color schemes for 
the differe'nt rooms, rugs will be Avoven, dolls dressed, and beds made to fit 
the dolls. Knowledge of materials will be gained in the practical problems 
that arise. 

The desire to plan and promote group projects will be increased and a founda- 
tion laid for developing habits of cooperation and good workmanship. 

After the children have taken up another play center the doll house Avill 
still remain of interest. Additions may be made relating to other subjects 
under consideration ; for instance, the cupboards may become filled with 
articles of food made of clay when the market is being discussed, or new 



8 A KINDEEGARTEN -FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM, 

dresses may be made for the dolls when clothing is occupying the attention. 
Window boxes and other details may appear gradually. The house may be- 
come the home of the Three Bears when that story is being read or dramatized. 

The grocery. — There are many possible avenues of approach to the subject of 
food. It is a topic of perpetual interest, but the most profitable time to discuss 
it is usually in the fall, so that its consideration may lead into the thought 
of the harvest and Thank.sgiving. Conversation in regard to the children's 
luncheon may lead to the proposition to have a party luncheon. A balanced 
lunch will be discussed and perhaps the suggestion made to have cereal, milk, 
and apple. A trip to the grocery to purchase these articles and the later 
preparation of the cereal will lead to the discussion of other kinds of food and 
their preparation. 

As in the kindergarten, a grocery store or market may be built and stocked. 
This year the articles should be classified as fruits, vegetables, cereals. These 
should be labeled and marked with prices not higher than 10 cents. Play 
money can be made to purchase the articles. Pocketbooks and baskets will 
also be necessary. The discussion of prices leads to investigation of the 
reasons for the difference; and the sources of various foods will be considered, 
as potatoes and apples from nearby farms, oranges and bananas from the 
South. Some reference will be made to the means of transportation. Another 
interesting question in connection with food is the quantity received. This will 
lead to an interest in measures and scales. Means to measure quart, pint, 
pound, and half pound should be available. In the arrangement of the store, 
attention will be drawn to the way that perishable and fresh foods must be 
cai'ed for, kept cool, and protected from flies. The children will consider how 
some of the perishable food can be saved by preserving or by making jelly or 
jam. The store should gradually become stocked with articles modeled similar 
to the real objcts. 

Such store play will lead to the acquisition of applicable information about 
the values of a few simple foods, the processes in cooking them, the classifica- 
tion of foods into fruits, vegetables, and cereals, and the sources of some foods. 
Labels and prices must be written and read. Simple computation must be 
made with play money. Accounts must be kept. A foundation will be laid for 
intelligent and businesslike buyinj]? and selling. 

The farm. — Children are much interested in the country. Life on tlie farm 
and the farmer's animals are usually attractive topics. After playing grocery 
store and talking about the sources of various foods, a trip might be taken to 
a nearby farm. If this is not possible, pictures of the different farm activities 
will lead the children to recall their various experiences in the country. 

If the children have visited a farm, the farm scene laid out this year should 
show evidence of the child's knowledge of the manner of growth of the actual 
articles raised, such as corn in rows in the field, apples on the trees in the 
orchard, lettuce in the garden. Discussion will center around the buildings 
necessary for the farmer and his work ; a ground plan can be laid with roads, 
fields, garden, etc. ; choice must he made of the various suggestions offered in 
regard to the building of house and barn and fences. 

Sand scenes are the first steps in map making. In laying out the farm it 
may be necessary to show elementary geographical distinctions, such as a pond 
for the ducks and a hill where the nut trees grow. Stories in books that tell 
about farm life and farm animals will be much enjoyed. 

Seasonal changes. — A trip to the park or woods when the leaves are beginning 
to fall from the trees will start a live interest in the gathering of leaves. 
Attention will be attracted to the different shapes, and the children will try 
to find from which trees the leaves have fallen. Particular attention can be 



COMMUNITY LIFE AND NATURE STUDY. 9 

drawn to the general form, bark, and leaf of the one or two trees most common 
to the vicinity. On reaching the classroom the children can sort the leaves, 
press a few from the particular trees which have aroused most interest, mount 
and label them. It will add to the pleasure of this study if the children can find 
the picture of their tree in some book on botany. Individual books may be made 
of one or two pressed leaves with drawings of the tree, and labeled. FaU 
flowers can be gathered and either pressed to mount in books or pictures of 
them can be drawn, labeled, and fastened together for a flower book. There 
is such an emotional reaction toward changes in nature that many original 
songs arise at this time. 

Harvest and Thanksgiving. — If the children's experiences have been organized 
in the kindergarten and enriched by the plays about home, grocery, and farm, 
the idea of the harvest and Thanksgiving will come as a fitting climax to their 
play. They will have ideas of the many varieties of food, of the quantity 
needed, of the care that has been required, of the source of all life. 

As in the kindergarten, the different festivals should be celelirated, but with 
added understanding of their meaning. The coming of Thanksgiving. Christ- 
mas, Patriot's Day, Easter, May Day, should all be brought to the children's 
attention early enough for them to plan how to celebrate each occasion appro- 
priately. 

At Thanksgiving the children should be led to think of what they enjoy most 
and then to give thanks for it. They may suggest changing the decoration of 
the room so that it will show for what they are thankful. They may compose 
their own little song of thaidis or print their own prayer to be given at the time 
of celebration. They may plan and prepare a feast and entertainment for their 
parents. They may plan to have their grocery well stocked and to give away 
its contents. 

To the children with the rich experience suggested in the Kindergarten Cur- 
riculum, the story of the first Thanksgiving might be told. The children 
would enjoy dressing up as Indians and giving a simple dramatization of the 
story. 

Life of the Indian child. — For the most developed children the dramatization 
of the first Thanksgiving might lead to a desire to learn more about the life of 
an Indian child. Children between 7 and S years of age enjoy living imagina- 
tively in the lives of children of other times or lands. The life of the Indian 
child is usually the one which makes the strongest appeal, because the costume 
is picturesque and the free life alluring. The first response will probably be 
the suggestions to make the costume, headdress, necklace, and decorated dress. 
A wigwam will then be required, and reference will be made to books to find out 
how it is constructed. A few selections read from Hiawatha will draw the 
children's attention to the fact that the Indian must have much knowledge of 
nature; this will lead them to the observation of the sun, clouds, moon, stars, 
etc. There will be discussion of the prowess of the Indian and his feats of 
endurance ; dances will be evolved. 

Winter projects. 

Christmas.- — As in the kindergarten, the children should be given an oppor- 
tunity to play out their joy in the coming festival. Santa Claus songs and 
games should be invented. Letters can be written to Santa Claus. Gifts that 
are made this year should be carefully planned ; there should be discussion of 
the appropriateness of the gift, of the materials needed, and the care to be put 
into the making. For the actual celebration the children may join with some 
99995°— 22 2 



10 A KINDERGAETEISr-FIEST-GEADE CUEEICrLUM. 

other class. They woiikl then discuss their part in the entertainment and make 
preparations for it. It might talce the form of acting out some story or giving 
an original interpretation of Christmas and the visit of Santa Claus. The 
story of the first Christmas is prohibited in the public schools of some States, 
but It should be told where there are no such restrictions, so that children may 
get the spiritual interpretation of this beautiful festival. Whatever form the 
celebration takes, it should be a very joyous occasion, without strain. 

Seasonal interests. — Snow is the phenomenon of winter which brings the 
most joy to the children. During a storm, when the flakes are coming down 
singly, a piece of black cloth may be laid on the window sill and the varying 
forms of the crystals noted. Many elementary science books give pictures of 
these forms, and the children will compare with delight the real snow crystals 
and the pictured ones. This leads to the study of the hexagonal fonn, and 
crystals will be drawn on the blackboard and cut from paper. The proposal 
to make a real snow man in the adjoining school yard will lead to discussion 
of the best way to begin and the proportions of the different parts. The effects 
of sun and rain will be noted, and the causes of melting iind fi-eezing discussed. 
Habits of observation and investigation should be fostered. 

Our town.. — After Christmas the children bring their toys to show to their 
playmates. These usually include dolls, wagons, trains of cars, or automobiles. 
From such starting points many interesting projects may be launched. It is 
probable that the dolls will start family plays, and different households will set 
up housekeeping. The wagons will be used to carry produce or people. Stores 
will spring iip and streets be laid oiit and the town project will lie under way. 
These ideas will be partially caiTied out as dramatic play, and then as the 
idea becomes too complex in detail to be repeated each time, the play will 
be partly transferred to the sand box, and a miniature town will appear. 
Trains, autos and boats will be made, with bridges, tunnels, stations, garages 
and docks. The streets will need lights, signs, car tracks. Each day the 
children will add to the story, as they discover the different types of buildings 
in the vicinity — homes, schools, churches, stores, factories. 

Knowledge will be gained of the activities in the immediate neighborhood, 
of the geographical plan of the sti'eets in the vicinity. Signs on street posts 
and stores will be eagerly deciphered. The children will gain an elementary 
idea of the function of different community helpers ; they will wish to appoint 
individuals as class street cleaners, postmen, policemen. Simple ideas of 
agreeable community association can be gained. 

Our post office. — While the community helpers were considered in a general 
way in the kindergarten, some more exhaustive study can be made of the 
work of one or two in the first grade, for instance, that of' the postman. The 
children are always interested in the postman, his uniform, bag, and whistle ; 
and there is an air of expectancy when he is in the vicinity. This is particu- 
larly keen around St. Valentine's day, if the children live in sections of the 
country where the custom of sending valentines is still continued. A visit to 
a post office will give the children an intelligent interest in the postman and 
his work. They will wish to turn one corner of the classroom into a post office 
and at the other end to place a mailbox for posting letters. A large box 
with hole placed on a desk will make a post office window, and another smaller 
box can be used for the mail box. These should be labeled, particularly if 
there is more than one window in the post office, for the sale of stamps, for 
registered letters, and for parcel post. The letter carrier's bag and cap may 
be made, as well as stamps of different colors for the different denominations ; 
letters can be written and sent to teacher, parents, and playmates. The 
reason for name and address will be made clear; there will be an interest 



COMMUNITY LIFE AND NATURE STUDY, 11 

in the proper method of salutation and the complimentary close with, signature. 
The buying of stamps with toy money will give occasion for arithemetical 
processes which will be reauired in the play. 

Patriotic celebration. — In the kindergarten the children talked about Wash- 
ington ; this year stories should be told about Lincoln also. It is the spirit 
of patriotism which should be emphasized. Loyalty at this age is best taught 
through love and respect for the flag. A simple ceremony should attend the 
raising of the flag in the morning and its lowering at the closing of the session. 
For Patriot's Day, in addition to the appropriate decoration of the room and 
pictures of Washington and Lincoln, the children might plan to give a march- 
ing drill to entertain another class. 

Spring inojects. 

Gardening. — As the spring approaches, the children feel the appeal to enjoy 
the out-of-doors. Gardening this year should not be confined to the flower 
pots and window boxes in the classroom. There should be definite planning 
for the planting in the school garden. Catalogues should be consulted, the 
relative uses of flowers and vegetables discussed, and the length of time it 
will take different varieties to mature. The garden should be measured in 
rows, and seeds planted that will develop fairly rapidly. The more advanced 
children will enjoy watching the growth of some indoor plant, such as corn 
or bean. At first they will wish to measure its growth each day and keep a 
record by marking or drawing it on a poster with the date ; later the interest 
will decline and once a week will suffice. 

A store. — This store may be a clothing store, a general store, a millinery 
establishment, a florist's or a gift shop. There are many interests which 
arise in the spring which lead different children to make similar articles. 
When these are gathered together, the idea of a store springs up. 

The clothing store may develop when the children decide that the dolls need 
thinner dres.ses like their own new ones. Gradually miscellaneous articles 
will be contributed to the store. If there is a 5 and 10 cent store in tlie 
neighborhood, it is well to give the play store something of this character, 
as the number work involved in buying and selling, which the children now 
enjoy greatly, will be within the children's capacity. Articles should be labeled 
and play money used. The children will be interested in discussing the dif- 
ferent kinds of material, as well as their relative cost and adaptability to the 
seasons. The purposes of the various articles will be considered, when to be 
worn and how taken care of. Measuring by the yard will be much enjoyed. 

The development of a millinery store as it was actually planned and carried 
out by a group of children is given at the end of the chapter. 

Seasonal interests. — In the spring when the wind begins to blow in gusts, 
the desire to play with kites seems to spring up overnight. While simple 
kites made of paper bags may have been made in the kindergarten, this year 
there should be study of the problem before the children begin their con- 
structions. Reference may be made to boy's books which tell about kite mak- 
ing, and the teacher may read simple directions. The construction should 
be according to measurement. The children should try out their kites, thus 
leading to an observation of the direction of the wind, its velocity, and the 
kind of weather usually attendant upon its changes. An interest will be 
aroused in the currents of air from the windows and the minature whirlwinds 
seen in the dust. 

Walks to the park should be taken to observe the unfolding of the leaves on 
the trees that were studied in the fall. If possible, twigs should be carried 



12 A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 

back to the classroom, so that the opening leaves can be carefully watched. 
Occasional trips should be taken to note the building of nests; the names of 
the nest builders should be learned and their pictures found in a bird book. 
Interest will be increased if stories can be found about the habits of these 
birds. 

Pets. — Suggestions are given in the Kindergarten Curriculum for keeping 
animal pets in the classroom. It is particularly advantageous for the chil- 
dren to have them in the first grade. Besides learning to love them and care 
for them, desirable habits of observation can be developed. The children 
should learn to watch carefully and describe accurately. It gives a basis for 
interpretation of many stories to know the ways of one animal well. 

Zoo. — A trip to the zoo will lead to many interesting and educational activi- 
ties. The cages or inclosures will be arranged in the sand table and clay 
animals placed inside. Animal picture books will provide models for the chil- 
dren, to make their constructions more accurate. The homes and habits of the 
best known will be discussed, and possibly the sand table will be transformed 
into a forest for the elephants, monkeys, and lions. A study of the native 
home food and drink will lead to the introduction of rivers, lakes, and hills in 
the sand scene. Imagination will be cultivated, which is needed for later 
geography and history study. 

Festivals and holidai/s. — Easter is the celebration of the promise of spring- 
time. As it approaches the children will wish to turn their room into a con- 
servatory by drawing, painting, cutting, constructing the flowers which their 
imagination sees blossoming in their garden. They may make Easter cards and 
baskets for friends or other children in the school. 

May Day is the children's own day. Whenever possible it should be cele- 
brated out of doors, with a majiiole of the children's own decorating. They 
will compose their original dance around the pole and possibly choose their 
own king and queen. The Avay in which the latter is chosen is very important, 
as it is probably the first time that the children have consciously selected one 
of their number for a position which all covet. There should be some con- 
sideration of the qualities which a king and queen should possess before the 
voting begins. 

Memorial Day and Arbor Day should be celebrated with appropriate exer- 
cises. On Arbor Day, if the children can not plant a tree, they should visit 
their favorite tree and play around it. 

As the vacation season approaches, the children begin to talk about the 
week-end excursions or the proposed vacation trip. Toys can be made for 
the country rainy days, or hats for the outdoor hours. The sand table can 
now be made to look like the country, with hills and ponds, woods and farms. 
In the woods may be found squirrels and birds. Other birds may be found in 
the orchard trees. The farmer's animals will again appear, and flowers in the 
garden. Trains will be seen bringing city people to the station. Much of the 
knowledge that the children have acquired during the year and organized can 
find expression in developing a related scene. 

ATTAINMENTS. 

Within the above units of study may be found opportunities to gain ele- 
mentary but basic and applicable knowledge of hygiene, science, ethics, number, 
reading, geography, history, nature study, music, representative art, dramatiza- 
tion, language, composition, and literature. It is difficult to suggest how a bal- 
ance may be maintained in the different phases of subject matter. In general 
a teacher should check herself to learn if she has spent a fair proportion of 



COMMUNITY LIFE AND NATURE STUDY. 13 

time in the following ways: Developing health habits, supplying new experi- 
ences, giving opportunities for expression through handwork, encouraging in- 
terest in and acquisition of formal tools of linowledge, and in supplying cul- 
tural models to develop appreciation. 

If a teacher who has followed the more traditional form of schoolroom pro- 
cedure does not feel free to make the life interests of her children the center 
of her whole plan, she might provide some interesting experience for the class 
and then set aside a certain period each day for the child's free, unguided ex- 
pression. She should, however, watch the work to discover what opportunities 
present themselves to carry over the child's reactions into the required work 
for the grade. As she finds the possibilities of subject matter and technique 
within the child's natural responses to interesting experiences, slie will gain 
more confidence to trust wholly to the life or project method of teacliing. 

A child who has been trained in the kindergarten and through the first grade 
as suggested above should show evidences of development along the following 
lines : 

1. Attitudes, interests, tastes. — ^Alertness to the better phases of activity 
carried on in the neigliborhood. An interest in increasing knowledge about them 
and in utilizing legitimate means for observation and experimentation. A 
dawning appreciation of personal responsibility in working for personal health 
and development, for the planning and success of group results, for the mainte- 
nance of comfortable and attractive surroundings, 

2. Habits, skills. — Increased ability to adjust one's self to a situation, to 
plan for future activity, to select what is needed to carry out a plan and to 
use it wisely, to hold attention to a line of action, to work independently, to 
ask for suggestions when necessary, to test the adequacy of results, to accept 
responsibility, to be honorable with self and others, to respect the rights of 
others, to work harmoniously with others, to obey group rules and help to form 
wise rules. 

3. Knoicledge. — Elementary facts about home, school, and neighborhood ; 
these rudimentary facts form basis for later school subjects, such as geography, 
civics, hygiene, art, and literature. Symbols for reading and number. Facts 
about justice, fair play, kindness, helpfulness, truthfulness, honesty, courage, 
independence, unselfishness, courtesy, respect. 

ILLUSTRATIONS OF UNITS OF STUDY. 
The Grocery Store, November, 1920. 

Aims. — 1, To give the child a better understanding of the interdependence and 
cooperation of workers. 

2. To interpret Thanksgiving in terms of the harvest, the gathering in of the 
food supply for people. 

.S. To give opportunity to study in a simple way the source, transportation, 
and sale of food. 

4. To supply opportunities for gaining knowledge of the simpler number com- 
binations and using them in ways similar to those in which they would be 
demanded by the child's daily life, in buying and selling., 

Experience.— Every child goes often to the store to buy food for the family. 
He sees many different kinds and selects what he wishes. He uses money in 
payment and receives change. 

Method. — 1. Excursion. Visited store. Noticed many kinds of food for sale, 
prices of food, bought apples and crackers. 

2. Miniature store. When children returned from excursion, they wished to 
have their own play store. Possible ways of making one were discussed. A 



14 A KINDERGARTElSr-FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 

plank was obtained from the janitor. Egg boxes were brought by boy in class 
from father's store. A counter was made of these. Empty cartons were used 
as stock. Children later made their own cartons, labeled and made pictures of 
contents. Dui-ing the first week a great deal of fruit was brought so that at 
the end a sale was held ; each child bought a piece of fruit with toy money which 
had been made. A party was then held and the fruit eaten. After the first 
week the children became interested in stocking the store with less perishable 
articles, made of clay or paper. 

Results. — 1. Oral English. Talked about visit to store. Talked about child's 
errands to store. Talked about source, tran.sportation, and sale of food. 
(Children sometimes make sand scene of fann in sand box.) Talked about 
Thanksgiving and the harvest. 

Children encouraged to compose simple Thanksgiving prayers ; these were 
typewritten and put into booklet form and read at the Thanksgiving party. 

2. Poetry memorized. " Over the River," " The Harvest Is In." 

The children, with the help of the teacher, composed the following prayer, 
which was then committed to memory by the children : 

Dear Father: 

We thank You for the sunshine and for the rain and snow, 

We thank You for the birds that sing and for the flowers that grow. 

We thank You for the harvest, the good things gathered in. 

The food that fills the farmer's barn, the storehouse, and the bin. 

We thank You for our homes and for our friends so dear, 

We thank You for our mothers and for our fathers' cheer. 

To show You that we thank You, we will be kind and true, 

And go with happy faces each day our work to do. 

3. Songs. " The Orchard." " The Harvest Is In." " God is Great, God is 
Good." 

4. Nature study. Fruits and vegetables. Sources of food. 

5. Hygiene. Food most nourishing. How cared for. How preserved. 

6. Supplementary reading. Primers were made by the children in which 
a record was kept of the progress made on store. These sentences were 
developed from the class each day and written on the board ; then they were 
typewritten and pasted in the primers with appropriate illustrations. 

Stories relating to stores, farms, gathering fruits and vegetables, harvest, 
found by children in story books or reading books ; tliese were read by groups 
or read by individuals to a group. 

7. Spelling and writing. Simple sentences were written relating to our store, 
such as " I will buy a big red apple." 

The invitations to the party were written by the children. The class con- 
sulted on form and wording; teacher wrote on blackboard what was consid- 
ered best, and children copied it ; children brought copies to teacher to ask 
her if mother could read the invitations. If some words were Illegible, teacher 
set copy and children practiced eagerly until written plainly enough for 
mother to undei'stand. The whole invitation was then rewritten. 

8. Number. Articles in store were priced so that they would only demand the 
simpler number combinations. Children would buy two articles, adding the cost 
and paying with toy money. Children would buy an article, paying for it 
with 10 cents and receiving change. Cashier kept the books and checked up 
to see if amount was correct. 

9. Construction work. Toy money and handbags or pocket books to hold 
it ; delivery wagons ; price tags ; boxes. Cutting and modeling of fruits and 
vegetables. Making of booklets. 

10. Drawing. Fruits and vegetables, trains, automobiles, store, etc. 



COMMUNITY LIFE AND NATURE STUDY. 15 

11. Conduct. The manners of a good, courteous salesman were discussed, 
and of pleasant customers. 

Climax. The children gave a Thanksgiving party, to which their parents 
were invited. P^ach child read his own Thanksgiving prayer. Each child 
whose mother or father was present played storekeeper and sold to his mother 
or father for real money. Tliis money was used to buy a Thanksgiving dinner 
for a family in the neighborhood. 

Preparation for other projects. The store led directly into the toyshop for 
Christmas time. 

The writing of the invitations led to the play of the Postman later in the 
year. 

The Milliner II Shop. April, 1921. 

Aims. — To develop the children's taste. 

To create an interest in industrial art and skill in manipulating materials. 

Fj.vperience. — Mothers were getting spring hats for the children. 

Method. — 1. Visit to the millinery shop. 

2. Samples of hats were shown. 

3. Miniature shop. As children had played store at different times during 
the .year, after a visit to the millinery shop the suggestion was immediately 
made to have a millinery shop in the classroom. There was some discussion 
whether hats should be made for themselves or for the dolls. It was decided 
to make them for dolls, as the dolls had no spring hats. The children brought 
scraps of material from home and made hats of various shapes and sizes. 
They frequently consulted the teacher when choosing colors so that attractive 
combinations might be made. One child who knew how to make dainty tissue 
paper flowers taught the art. by request, to many of the class. 

Results. — 1. Oral English. Talked about spring, return of birds and flowers. 
Talked about the buying of new hats for spring. Children told stories about 
their visit to the millinery shop. Discussed what we needed for the shop. 

Children learned millinery terms, such as hat frame, brim, crown. Learned 
names of materials, such as silk, straw, velvet. Learned names of trimmings, 
as flowers, feathers, butttons, ribbons, bows, cherries. 

2. Supplementary reading. Children read from the blackboard stories they 
made about visit to the millinery shop and stories about our own shop, such 
as " To-day we had a pleasant walk. We visited the millinery shop and saw 
many pretty hats. The hats were on stands. The lady showed us the hats. 
Some of them were made of silk, and some were made of straw. We saw 
signs with pictures of hats. They were very pretty. Some hats were in boxes. 
The boxes are called bandboxes." 

3. Reading from posters. Children read and learned words printed on post- 
ers announcing sale of hats, date, prices, etc. 

4. Spelling and writing. Words needed to make paper money and to make 
posters and signs on bandboxes and bags for hats. 

5. Industrial art. Hats, bandboxes, hat bags, bags for shopping, price tags, 
tags for hats. Painted hat stands (made of spools and pencils). Bills (money), 
designs on bills studied carefully. Hatboxes decorated. 

6. Nature. Studied flowers used to make millinery shop attractive. For- 
syth la, pussywillow, daffodil, apple blossoms. Learned names of artificial 
flowers used on hats. 

7. Number. Children played store. Paid for hats with money they made. 
Hats were priced for so many dollars. Each child had $1, $2, $5, $10 bills. 

Climax. — Children held sale of hats ; children brought dolls to school, and 
the hats were tried on until a suitable one was found. Boys borrowed dolls 



16 A KINDERGAr.TEN-riRST-GKADE CURRICULUM. 

of their sisters or of some girl in tlie class; they were as much interested as 
the girls in the making and buying of the hats. 

Preparation for other projects. Children suggested that they would like 
to make other clothing for the dolls. 

The interest in siiring and flowers led to the thought of the garden and the 
making of a florist's shop. 

BIBLIOGKAPHY. 

Bonser, Frederich G. The elementary school curriculum. New York, Macmillan Co., 

1920. 466 p. 
Krackowizer, Alice M. Project.s in the primary grades. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippin- 

cott Co., 1919. 221 p. 
Pratt, Caroline, and others. Record of Group VI. 1920-21. (Six-year old curriculum.) 

New York City and Country School, Publishers 165 W. Twelfth St., 1921. 
Speyer school curriculum . . . New York, Teachers College, Columbia University, 

[1913]. Sixth impression, .Tune 1916. 179 p. 
"Weeks, Ruth M. Socializing the three R's. New York, Macmillan Co., 1919. 182 p. 
Wells, Margaret B. A project curriculum. Philadelphia, J, B. Lippincott Co. 



Chapter III. 
READING. 

By Louise F. Specht. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Reading as a subject of the curriculum sliould not be presented until a child 
has reached the mental age of 6 years. It, therefore, falls in the first grade of 
the school curriculum. Although this technical grade assigiiment of subject 
matter is made, the training received in pi'eschool and kindergarten experience 
determines in large measure the degree of interest, ease, and skill which the 
child displays in attacking this highly complex problem. 

All experiences that aid in creating and developing ideas enrich one's povper 
in reading. It is important that the training in the home and the kindergarten 
provide experiences and activities that help the child to acquire meanings, 
ideas of home, school, environment, and social relationships. This will aid him 
to develop the power to understand the ideas to be conveyed later through 
reading. 

All experiences of the kindergarten may be used as aids in the acquisition 
of ideas, but the language activities inherently are most fundamental and sig- 
nificant in the direct relationship they bear to the subject of reading. Story 
telling, picture study, conversation, oral expression, correct speech habits are 
basic factors in preparation for reading. A speaking vocabulary and the ability 
to interpret and describe an experience are great aids in gaining meaning from 
printed symbols. 

An idea of the function of printed or written symbols is gained in the kinder- 
garten. A child learns that he can find his own property much more easily 
when marked with his name. An invitation composed by the children and 
written by the kindergartner appears to tell the mother all about the coming 
party. 

Drawing is an activity which aids in gaining control over the technique of 
reading and writing. In the effort to make outlines which approximate 
the appearance of things, the eye becomes keen to the length and shape of lines. 

The attitude toward books, and habits of handling them, are taught in the 
kindergarten through the use of picture books. Children learn that between 
the covers are to be found interesting ideas, experiences of other people, and 
things which can be interpreted through imagination. 

generaij aims. 

To direct, guide, modify, and control behavior. 

To satisfy the child's interests. 

To give him pleasure. 

To enable him to gain information. 

To develop his imagination and sympathies. 

To develop his appreciation of good literature. 

17 



18 A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 

SPECinO AIMS. 

The cultivation of the desire to read. 

The power of sustained interest in reading. 

The ability to interpret and to comprehend what is read. 

The ability to read at sight with ease and facility chart sentences, para- 
graphs, and stories based upon experiences, games, songs, stories, and conversa- 
tions. These are to be read from the blackboard, chart, or books made by the 
children themselves. 

The ability to use the primer. 

The ability to i-eeognize promptly and pronounce correctly at least 300 words 
each half year. 

SUBJECT MATTER, 

There are four sources of subject matter : 

1. Children'n ejcperienccs. — Accounts of actual experiences composed by the 
children and revised and improved under the guidance of the teacher provide 
a transition from oral speech to the reading from l)i>()ks. They supply an ideal 
introduction to the significance of books, and supplementing printed primers, 
continue to motivate and socialize the reading and composition lessons through- 
out the course of the school program. They may also be used in connection 
with the development of projects. After the compositions are developed, they 
may be printed or written on the blackboard or chart by the teacher, and typed, 
mimeographed, or printed as the school facilities permit. The mimeographed 
or printed lesson is then pasted in a book made and Illustrated by the pupil 
himself. (For specific topics see chapter on subject matter.) The following 
selections are examples of compositions that might be worked out with the chil- 
dren. The list may be amplitied or varied according to the conmiunity in which 
the child lives and the environment that determines his social opportunities 
and interests : 

September — 

GOING TO SCHOOL. 

I am going to school. 

Good morning, Miss . 

Good morning, boys. 
Good morning, girls. 

My name is . 

I am years old. 

October — 

JACK-O-LANTERN, 

Can you make a jack-o-lantern? 

Get a big, round pumpkin. 

Cut the top for a lid. 

Cut two eyes. 

Cut a nose. 

Cut a mouth. 

Take out the seeds. 

Put a candle inside. 

Light the candle. 

Carry it at night. 

Boys and girls will run away. , 



READING. 19 



Novemher- 



Red apples are on the trees. 
The corn is gathered in. 
The harvest is gatliered in. 
Thanksgiving is coming. 

HIAWATHA. 

(For advanced children.) 

Hiawatha was a httle Indian boy. 

He lived in a tent by the side of the water. 

He had a bow and arrow. 

" Do not shoot me." said a little bird. 

Hiawatha loved the birds. 

December — 

THE TOT SHOP. 

We went to a toy shop yesterday. 

We saw drums. 

We saw pretty dolls. 

There was an airplane in the shop. 

Helen liked the dolls. 

John wanted a pair of skates. 

Lucy wanted a set of dishes. 

Harry liked the big red drum. 

I want a . 

Children choose doll, sled, drum, horn. etc. 

January — • 

OUB CANARY. 

We have a pet canary. 

His name is (Jerry, Dick, Tweedle-dee). 

He lives in a cage. 

He takes a bath evei\v morning. 

We feed him seeds. 

Sometimes we give him a small piece of carrot. 

He sings a sweet song. 

February — 

TO MY VALENTINE. 

(To be composed by the children.) 

I love you, dear Valentine, 

I hope you love me. 
This little red heart of mine 

Tells it to thee. 

March — 

THE WIND. 

Can you tell which way the wind blows? 

How can you tell? 

See the clothes on the wash line. 

Look at the flag on the schoolhouse. 

Fly a kite. 

Watch the weather vane. 



20 A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GEADE CURRICULUM. 

April — 



BLOWING BUBBLES. 



Do you like to blow bubbles? 

I have a pipe. 

I dip the pipe into soapy water. 

Then I blow a bubble. 

I toss it into the air. 

Look at the beautiful colors in it. 

Watch it rise and burst. 

Maij— 

THE zoo. 

Harry and I went to the zoo last Saturday. 

We saw the elephant. 

We had a ride on his back. 

The lions and tigers were there. 

The lion roared at us. 

The tiger showed us his sharp teeth. 

The big brown bear growled — gr — 

The monkey curls his tail around the swing. 

He swayed to and fro. 

June— 

BESIDE THE SEA. 

Our family went to the seashore. 

We had a picnic there. 

All the children had pails and shovels. 

I had a red pail. 

I made cakes in the sand with my shovel. 

I took off my shoes and stockings and waded in the water. 

I ran away from the waves. 

We ate our lunch on the sand. 
In addition to these the children may tell stories of their class or school 
life, their home and family experiences, or the nursery rhymes they know. 
Toward the end of the year they may compose an original short story or fable. 

2. Stories told or read to the children. — These may be animal or other nature 
stories ; folk tales and fables ; fairy tales ; humoi-ous stories ; cunudative tales ; 
and nonsense rhymes and stories. These may be reproduced orally and later 
worked up into reading lessons in the same manner as the one followed in 
working up accounts of the cliildren's experiences. 

3. Reading hooks and supplementary socialized reading material. — During 
the first half year children who have been in kindergarten should read one or 
two simple primers. In the second half year from 5 to 12 primers should be 
provided, so that children of varied ability may have as much reading material 
as they can profitably assinulate. 

Although the content of the primers must be within the children's com- 
prehension and interests, the language and style should be consistent with 
that of good usage, and whenever possible, it should possess literary merit. 
To be considered good, a primer should have the following characteristics : 

It should be good literature. The themes should be adapted to the experi- 
ences of the children and should be appropriate for their particular stage 
of development. The themes should be varied in their appeal and in 
subject matter. 



BEADING. 21 

In addition to the primer, blaclvboard, and cliart, there is reading matter of 
a highly socialized character that should be used to the fullest possible extent. 
Children should be induced to read — 

street signs price lists name of school 

trolley signs guide posts labels on boxes or 

directions on boxes of advertisements packages 

games warning signals addresses on letters 

4. In addition to these three sources of subject matter there is a fourth : 
That which calls for motivated silent reading. Among the subjects suggested 
for this are: Actions to be performed; directions to be followed; orders to 
be obeyed ; directions for playing a game ; directions for a project or for 
the construction of an object to be used in carrying out a project. 

METHOD. 

The method to be used in teaching reading must l)e tletermined by the 
nature of the subject matter to be taught and the social and mental needs of the 
pupils. 

The ideal method is tlie natural method. The child wishes to know the 
name on a candy box, his own name in print, or the names of the Mother 
Goose characters. He begins to acquire a reading vocabulary, gradually, 
naturally, and in accordance with his desires and mental needs. His mother or 
tlie teacher creates a still stronger desire by telling a story and perhaps not 
having time to finish it. The cliild wishes to read the story for himself. He 
asks for one word and then for another until a vocabulary is acquired. He 
asks repeatedly and is told repeatedly until the words become fixed in his 
memory. Children who learn to read in this way remember more readily 
and retain more definitely the words they desire to know. This method may 
be followed when tlie story contains but a few words that are new to the group, 
or when the class is small in number. When the needs of a large group or the 
pressure of time must be considered, the more formal procedure as given in 
the suggestions outlined below may be followed : 

1. Reading lessons developed from the children's experiences supply an 
ideal introduction to tlie use of books. This has already been stated and the 
method of procedure in this phase of the work shown. The method to be 
followed in the first use of a book will depend upon the reading series in use, 
and the directions given in the manual of instruction accompanying it. Fol- 
lowing this procedure does not necessarily prevent the teacher from using other 
devices and methods with supplementary reading matter. The best teachers 
use the elements of value contributed by all methods, and adapt them to the 
children, according to their needs and the subject matter to be presented. In- 
experienced teachers will do weU to follow one method carefully until it has 
been mastered. After they have acquired power and confidence, they can 
modify it, amplifying and enriching it with variety, and using it with skill. 

In general that method is good which subordinates the technical elements 
to the content and at the same time develops the technique of reading to a 
degree of skill that facilitates interpretation, comprehension, and speed. 
Specifically, a combination of the sentence, word, and phonetic method should 
be used. The sentence or word is the thought unit. The analysis of the sen- 
tence gives words and phrases; further analysis brings the word, and finally 
the phonetic analysis gives the sound. 

2. Procedure in preprimer work : 

The experience, oral story, song, game, or rhyme. 
Playing and dramatizing the situation. 



22 A KINDERGAKTEN-FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 

2. Procedure in preprimer work — Continued. 

Conversation based upon the story in simple, animated, and interesting 
language. 

Tlie essential thoughts in proper sequence are printed or written on 
the blackboard or chart. 

Recognition of the sentence the first step. The teacher asks a well 
formulated question, and draws the pointer along the sentence to 
establish correct eye movement. The child reads the sentence in 
answer to a question, not word by word, but as a whole. 

As soon as the different sentences are recognized, words and phrases are 
selected for special study. 

3. Steps in reading from the book : 

The oral story. 

The reproduction of the story in dramatization. 

Conversation based on the story, accompanied by blackboard work 
to assist the children with the technical difficulties they may en- 
counter in the text. 
Finding sentences, phrases, and words in the text. 
Word study ; sight and phonetic. 
Silent reading. 

Oral reproduction in answer to questions. The children are to ask 
questions on what was read and be responsible for the correct state- 
ment of the answers. They may perform an action or carry out in- 
structions to show correct interpretation of the silent reading. 
Oral reading; gradually increasing from one sentence to two or more, 
then to a paragraph, and to an entire story. 
* 4. Rereading of a stonj. — The rereading of a stoi'y should be motivated or 
socialized, lest the children lose interest in it or the subject becomes stale. New 
beauties must be sought, new purposes provided, so that the children may ac- 
quire the power of continued appreciation for a good or beautiful piece of 
literature. 

Suggested motives for rereading a selection : 

To instruct or interest a child who was absent. 

To inform, interest, or entertain a visiting teacher, supervisor, pupils, or 

group of pupils. 
To test attainment or power. 

To memorize the thought sequence and linguistic expression as an aid to 
the story telling or dramatization. 

ORAL VERSUS SILENT BEADING. 

Experimentation has not yet determined to what extent silent reading may 
be substituted for oral reading in the lower grades. Experience with foreigners 
has shown that a certain measure of language ability and skill in conversation 
are necessary prerequisites to comprehension and correct interpretation in silent 
reading. The middle ground and balance may be maintained by extending the 
amount of silent reading to the measure of skill and facility displayed in lan- 
guage ability. In order to develop correct habits of silent reading, exercises 
should be provided as soon as the speaking vocabulai'y of the children is suffi- 
ciently ample to undertake lessons with the necessary measure of success. Some 
reading lessons may be given by making the direct association between the 
printed symbol and word or phrase without the intermediary one of oral speech. 
The words used, however, must constitute a part of the children's vocabulary. 

The fact that silent reading constitutes a necessary part of the reading ex- 
ercise as a whole, and its function there, has already been shown. The follow- 



READING. 23 

ing additional suggestions are given : Tlie child or the teacher performs an 
action or points to an object and writes a sentence of the story interpreting the 
action or directing some one to perform the action. The children read the sen- 
tence silently. The teacher tests their knowledge by having them perform the 
action, whispering the sentence to her or to a child, who then gives the sen- 
tence aloud. Many similar occasions can be found. 

READING BOOK PROJECT. 

When the kindergarten children are promoted to the first grade they have a 
vision of books and their ability to read. It is not long before this vision leads 
them to express a desire to read, and the teacher meets it with the suggestion 
that they make their own first readers. The suggestion is eagerly adopted, 
and they decide to make a book which contains a history of their school ac- 
tivities. This book they decide to call " School Days," or " My Book." 

Each day near the close of the season they consult together and decide upon 
the activity which they wish to incoi*porate in their books. The teacher prints 
the sentence upon the blackboard, and next morning there are volunteers to read 
the newest sentence. As the experience is vital and real, there are always 
many successful volunteers. The children may then illustrate the thought in 
their reading books and paste below the illustration the printed or typed sen- 
tence prepared for each child by the teacher. 

The teacher through skillful guidance aids the children to express their ex- 
periences so that the sentence construction is simple and definite. The un- 
conscious drill which comes from the blackboard work is a strong aid to mem- 
ory. In addition the child's own illustrations in his book help him to read it at 
home and start him in habits of independent, self-directed study. Not many 
pages in the book are completed before the children are ambitious to read their 
books to the class. This makes a strong motive for the mastery of the new 
skill, and each child has a definite goal which he is anxious to attain — the 
ability to read his own book fluently from cover to cover. 

The most important result is the fact that from the beginning of their read- 
ing the children's attention is directed to the thought back of the printed page 
and to a thought in which they have a vital I'elationship. 

This early " School Days," or " My Book," reader leads to the making of 
many other readers by the children, developed in connection with their experi- 
ences and interests. 

Titles suggested for these booklets may be : The Toy-Shop, My Garden, 
Christmas, Spring, Play in Winter, or My Dolls. 

SUBORDINATE PHASES OF WORK IN READING, PARALLELING READING FOR THOUGHT. 

WORD STUDY. 

This includes the study of words singly, and in phrase or sentence groups. 
The aims in this work are — 

To develop rapid and correct recognition of words. 

To insure correct interpretation and comprehension. 

To develop a rate of speed consistent with the nervous and mental ability 

of the child. 
To enlarge the vocabulary. 
To extend the range of meanings of words. 
To develop independent phonetic power to attack new words. 
Devices. — Blackboard, word cards, phrase and sentence cards, signs, an- 
nouncements, games. The game elements and ideas are used to motivate most 



24 A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GKADE CURRICULUM. 

of the lessons in word recognition the first year. The play spirit must domi- 
nate the activity if the i-esults of these games ai-e to be effective means to 
instill and maintain a love of reading. The recognition of the words and 
phrases in the reading lesson and the span and the rate of reading are some 
of the purposes to be accomplished. 

Suggested Games and Methods of Playing Them. 

1. Matching words, phrase or sentence groups. 

2. Children when called upon recite the words or phrases on cards that are 

rapidly flashed in turn. 

3. Cards containing words and phrases are set on the blackboard ledge out 

of sentence order and children are called upon to arrange them in 
proper sequence to make a sentence. 

4. As cards bearing words or phrases are exposed by the teacher, the children 

called upon say the word or phrase and give a sentence from the reader 
story or their own experience containing the word or phrase group. 

5. Word or phrase cards are placed along the blackboard ledge or tacked on 

the blackboard frame. 
Two children are competitors. The teacher or some selected child gives a 
word. The competitors who have pointers strive to be first to point to word 
or phrase ; the one who does so scores one for each word called. The winner 
is rewarded by calling words to be found by the next two players. 

6. The teacher or some child erases a word in each one of the sentences on 

the blackboard. The cards bearing the erased words are set on the 
blackboard ledge. The child called upon supplies the missing word. 

7. Children called to the front of the room hold cards containing words to 

be emphasized, so that the class may see them. As the teacher or a 
child calls the word, the bearer of the card containing the word makes 
a curtsy or a bow, saying the word as he does so. Children who curtsy 
or bow for the wrong word miss and remain. The teacher calls words 
more rapidly and sometimes looks at one child while calling the word 
on a card held by another. The child who is seated first wins the 
game. 

8. " Can you guess it?" One child hides in the clothing closet or outside 

the room. A member of the class points to the word selected from 
the chart, blackboard list, or words on the ledge of the board, so that 
all members of the class may see it. The child who is hiding is called 
and begins to guess. The guesser says "Is it 'stand'?" Class says, 
" No, it is not ' stand.' " The guesser continues until he selects the 
word chosen and class says " Yes, it is ' come,' " if that happens to be 
the word selected. 

ndividnal Gaines. 

1. Sentences or short stories written, printed, or typed on cards. These 

are cut into phrase groups and words and placed in an envelope. 
Children reassemble them to compose sentences and stories. 

2. Completion game. Sentences containing blanks for missing words and 

phrases are printed or typed on cards. The missing words and 
phrases are on separate cards. These are placed in the spaces where 
they complete the sense. 

3. Picture game. Pictures and separate words and sentences that give the 

title, description, or interpretation of the pictures are placed in en- 
velopes. Children choose titles or interpretative sentences and place 
them above or below the pictures. 



READING. 25 

4. Game of opposites. Words like cold, hot, black, white, etc., are placed in 

envelopes. Children choose a word and next to it place the word 
of opposite meaning. Another word is chosen, its opposite is found, 
and so on until the selection is exhausted. 

5. Game of relations. Words and phrases related to two different subjects 

like " The Home " and " The Farm " are placed in an envelope. 
Children select all those relating to home and place them under that 
title. Those relating to the farm are selected to be placed under 
farm. 

PHONETICS AS AN AID TO READING. 

The purpose of training in phonetics is to give a means of attacking new 
words and to promote correct enunciation, articulation, and pronunciation. 

New words are developed by the analysis of known words and the recom- 
bination of consonants and phonograms to form new words. For reference 
the teacher uses a type or key word, so that children may easily recall the 
sound, as "ball " for " all," " sail " for " ail." The essential elements of 
method to follow are: 

To supply the phonetic sounds of letters in words which children desire 

to know, in their group or individual reading. 
To provide games similar to those used for word recognition. 
To apply the newly acquired facts and words to a varied and enriched 
content so that children may appreciate their growth in power and see 
the relation which it bears to their reading ability. 
This may be done by composing sentences, stories, riddles, rhymes, non- 
sense stories, etc., that contain the newly acquired vocabulary. 

SPELLING. 

Spelling should not be formally taught as a subject of the curriculum. 
As a preliminary preparation or as an incentive to future motivation, however, 
there is no reason why, when the child begins to write, he should not have 
some incidental, informal introduction to the subject of spelling. 

The following suggestions as to procedure are offered : 

While the teacher is writing a word on the blackboard as " me," she says 
in accompaniment, " m," " e," " me." Tlie child associates the name of the 
letter with the letter form. Pupils should not be called upon to spell or to 
repeat formally the spelling of the teacher. 

Children will learn to spell many words and to recognize the letters of the 
alphabet through making signs, labeling articles, writing invitations, etc. 

ATTAINMENTS. 

1. Attitudes, interests, tastes: 

A desire to read. 

An interest in the ability to increase both directly and vicariously 

the sphere of social experience. 
Reading for pleasure. 
Appreciation of good literature. 

2. Habits, skills: 

In comprehension — to reproduce in action, play, or language the 

printed instruction, direction, or story. 
To establish correct habits of association of words and their meanings. 

99995 °-22 3 



26 A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 

2. Habits, skills — Continued. 

Phonetically — to acquire the power to analyze words having common 
phonetic elements and from their elements to reconstruct new words ; 
in other words, to develop the independent phonetic power to attack 
and interpret new words that possess phonetic elements known to 
the child. 

In rate — to increase the eye span and the speed. 
Hygienically — to assume good reading posture. 

To establish correct eye movement. 

3. Knowledge, information: 

An increased vocabulary. Children of different mental ages or those 
possessing different intelligence quotients show differences in the 
extent of the reading vocabulary that can be acquired in a term of 
six months or a grade. 

Those of average intelligence, 100-120 intelligence quotients, should 
acquire about 300 words ; those of 120-140 intelligence quotients 
should acquire about 400 words ; those of 140 and above should ac- 
quire about 500 words. 

Children who are dull normals can acquire about 200 words. Those 
of borderline or moron grade vary so greatly in the type and num- 
ber of their disabilities it is impossible to give any approximate 
statement of their limitations or capacities. 

An increased knowledge of their environment. 

The acquisition of a literary inheritance commensurate with their 



reading ability. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



Akin, Florence. Word mastery ; a course in phonics for the first three years. Boston, 

Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913. 124 p. 
Briggs, T. H., and Coffman, L. D. Reading in the public schools. Chicago, Row, 

Peterson & Co., 1908. 274 p. 
Charters, W. W. Teaching the common branches. New York, Macmillan Co., 1913. 

355 p. 
Chubb, Percival. The teaching of English, New Tork, Macmillan Co., 1902. 411 p. 
Freeman, Frank S. Psychology of the common branches. Boston, Houghton Mifflin 

Co., 1916. 275 p. 
Gray, C. T. Types of reading ability. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1917. 

196 p. 
Gray, W. S. Studies of elementary school reading through standardized tests. Chicago, 

University of Chicago Press, 1917. 157 p. 
Haggarty, M. E. Ability to read. Bloomington, Ind., University of Indiana Press, 

1917. 63 p. 
Huey, Edmund Burke. The psychology and pedagogy of reading. New York, Mac- 
millan Co., 1908. 469 p. 
Jenkins, Frances. How to teach reading. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913. 93 p. 

Reading in the primary grades. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1915. 124 p. 

Judd, Charles H. Reading ; its nature and development. Chicago, University of Chicago 

Press, 1918. 142 p. 
Kellogg, A. M. How to teach reading. Chicago, Flanagan Pub. Co. 

Klapper, Paul. Teaching children to read. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1921. 242 p. 
McMurry, Charles. A method for teaching primary reading. New York, Macmillan Co., 

1903. 198 p. 
National Society for the Study of Education. Reading exercises based on children's 

experiences. In Nineteenth yearbook. Part 1. 1920. p. 20-30. Bloomington, 111., 

Public School Pub. Co. 

Committee on silent reading. Report. In Twentieth yearbook. Part 3. 1921. 

Bloomington, 111., Public School Pub. Co. 

O'Brien, John A. Silent reading. New York, Macmillan Co., 1921. 289 p. 
Sawyer, Nettie A. Five messages to teachers of primary reading. Chicago, Band, 
McNally & Co., 1913. 219 p. 



READING. 27 

Schmidt, W. A. Experimontal study in the psychology of reading. Chicago, Uni- 
versity of Chicago Press. 1917. 125 p. 
Shaw, Edward R. School hygiene. New York, Macmillan Co., 1901. 260 p. 
Turner, Nellie E. Teaching to read. New York, American Book Co., 1915. 520 p. 

SUPPLEMENTARY READING. 

Bryce's Playtime primer. New York, Newson & Co. 

Blaisdell's Rhyme and story. First Reader. Boston, Little, Brown & Co. 

Dopp's Bobby and Betty at home. Chicago, Rand, McNally & Co. 

Grover's The sunbonnet babies primer. Chicago, Rand, McNally & Co. 

Grover's The overall boys. Chicago, Rand, McNally & Co. 

Hix's Once upon a time stories. New York, Longmans, Green & Co. 

Moore's Pennies and plans. New York, Macmillan Co. 

Robinson's In toyland. Boston, Little, Brown & Co. 

Hop O My Thumb. Chicago & Boston, Educational Pub. Co. 

Jack and the beanstalk. Chicago & Boston, Educational Pub. Co. 

Jack and the giant killer. Chicago & Boston, Educational Pub. Co. 

Puss in boots. Chicago & Boston, Educational Pub. Co. 

Red Riding Ilood. Chicago & Boston, Educational Pub. Co. 

The little red hen. Chicago & Boston, Educational Pub. Co. 

The three bears. Chicago & Boston, Educational Pub. Co. 

The three little kittens. Chicago & Boston, Educational Pub. Co. 

Aesop's Fables. Vol. 1. Chicago & Boston, Educational Pub. Co. 

Blaisdell's Cherry tree children. (School edition.) Boston, Little, Brown & Co. 

Circus reader. Boston, Benjamin H. Sanborn & Co. 

Howard's Banbury Cross stories. New York, C. E. Merrill & Co. 

Serl's In fableland. Boston, Silver, Burdett & Co. 

Serl and Evans' Work-a-day doings. Boston, Silver, Burdette & Co. 

Skinner's Storyland in play. Book I. Chicago, Rand, McNally & Co. 

Wiley's Mother Goose primer. New York, C. E. Merrill & Co. 



Chapter IV. 
WRITING. 

By Louise F. Specht. 



Penmanship or writing as a subject in the curriculum for the first year 
continues to be a mooted question. If the cliild's desires and impulses are a 
guide to our judgment in the matter, we include writing. The illegible scrawls 
and marks that are meant to convey the child's message to an absent parent 
or to Santa Claus are an indication of a budding power that the teacher should 
develop according to the physical and nervous maturity of the child. 

GENERAL AIM, 

To satisfy the child's social need. 
To extend his social experience. 

SPECIFIC AIMS. 

1. To satisfy the desire for written expression. 

2. To introduce the child to the significance of social correspondence. 

3. To acquire correct habits in using writing materials. 

4. To establish the correct coordination of eyes, nerves, and muscles. 

5. To acquire the recognition and reproduction of the letter forms in script. 

SUBJECT MATTER. 

The words and letter forms used in the letters, messages, names, and labels 
that the children choose to write as the expression of an individual or a social 
desire. These may be — 

1. The children's names. 

2. The name of the school. 

3. Labels. 

4. A message to an absent parent or child. 

5. An invitation to a parent's meeting or a party of some kind. 

6. A letter to Santa Claus. 

7. A valentine. 

8. Making their own word games. 

9. Writing the alphabet and illustrating it. 

10. Composing and writing their own nonsense alphabet. 

11. Writing in connection with projects. 

Replies to a questionnaire sent out to seven large cities show that authorities 
in all these cities are unanimous in advocating the teaching of large script 
forms and the use of free-arm movement. 

28 



WRITING. 29 

METHOD. 

When the child, expresses a desire to write and states what he wishes to 
write, tlie teaclier writes a sample copy on blackboard or chart with a sufficient 
variation of vocabulary to allow the child a personal choice, for example — 

Dear Santa: 

Please bring me a doll (sled, drum, book, etc.). 
Your little boy (girl). 
Robert. 

The test of success is legibility. 

The child discovers he lacks technical skill. The teacher, by suggestive 
remarks as she writes the word which the child finds difficult, by having the 
child trace the word In the air, or by tracing the sample or guiding his hand, 
gives the child the aid he is seeking until he learns to write the word inde- 
pendently. 

The emphasis should be sequentially as follows : Social or individual motive ; 
composition, simple in form and good in style ; legibility ; form ; slant. 

ATTAINMENTS. 

Attitudes and interests: 
A desire to write. 

An interest in receiving and sending written messages. 
A desire to acquire ability to write words and sentences, so that when a 
letter or a message is to be written an intelligent and interesting ex- 
pression may be conveyed in writing, 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Educational experiments by head teachers in elementary schools. Five papers read 

before the New Ideals in Education Conference. A new method in handwriting. 

Miss Golds. Pamphlets sent by the secretary, 24 Royal Avenue, Chelsea, England. 

3 d., post free. 
Hall-Quest, and others. .Principles involved in the teaching of handwriting. University 

of West Virginia Press. 
New York Society for the Experimental Study of Education. Bulletin. Vol. 2, no. 5, 

Section 4 — Penmanship. 
Oppenheim, Nathan. The development of the child. New York, Macmillan Co. 
Thorndike, E. L. Teacher's estimates of the quality of handwriting. New York, 

Teachers College, Bureau of Publications. 



Chapter V. 
LANGUAGE. 

By Florence C. Fox. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The language work of the first grade should be continued along the lines 
begun in the kindergarten; but since the mastery of the language arts is one 
of the chief purposes of the early grades, it should receive a larger emphasis 
and assume greater definiteness of purpose and method. The work of the 
kindergarten has stimulated children's language development through the 
opportunities it has afforded for conversation (1) between the children them- 
selves; (2) between groups of children and the teacher in the games and coop- 
erative manual activities; (8) and between the whole group and the teacher 
in the " conversation period." All this has afforded opportunities for increas- 
ing the children's vocabularies, for the correction of errors, and for the organi- 
zation of their ideas, in a very informal way. 

Opportunity must be offered. — The lack of opportunity for oral language is 
the most noticeable defect in the modern primary school program. Individual 
pupils in the first grades throughout the country speak less than 100 words 
during a five-hour session of school, including all their responses in the recita- 
tion periods of the fundamental subjects.^ They talk on an average less than 
half a minute during the school day. 

Essentials in oral language. — Primary language exercises should be oral in 
their character and should train for fluency and ease in speaking. The bases 
of these lessons should be (1) conversation regarding the child's school and 
community life and the realm of nature lying close about him ; (2) stories and 
poems from the best literature for children; and (3) detailed narrative in the 
history of primitive people. 

Definite time allotment and forceful presentation needed. — Definite time allot- 
ment for the language period and a detailed outline for use in the language 
classes is an imi>erative necessity if the child is to receive this essential train- 
ing. The work also requires a tenacity of purpose on the part of the teacher, 
a careful preparation, and a vivid and forceful presentation. It requires a 
sympathetic attitude, one that shall inspire the child to give, unconsciously and 
simply, his own version of the stories, poems, narratives, and experiences 
vphich he has acquired. These exercises should never take the form of memory 
drills that consist in repeating the rules of composition from a book or the 
reproduction, verbatim, of the text of a story. 

Points to be emphasized. — These are the points that need to be emphasized, 
A. definite outline, a steady purpose, a continuous program. They are the first 
essentials in the training of little children in the art of oral expression. 

^ Data from questionnaires and from surveys in Bureau of Education. 
30 



LANGUAGE. 31 

Auditorium periods. — It is one of the best signs of tlie time that get-together 
exercises are more and more becoming a feature of the daily school program. 
Here is an intriguing motive for exercises in oral expression and the modes 
most closely related to it. Once a week, at least, the primary and kindergarten 
groups should come together for an hour of music and literary exercises and 
of reports on civic interests and nature observations. The Francis W. Parker 
Year Book on Morning Exercises sums up the values of this period in their 
school in the following words: 

It is evident that the exercises grow out of the daily work of the school or 
out of the interests of the children in some large absorbing outside question. 
The subject is sometimes science, the telling or illustrating of nature observa- 
tions ; the story of some visit to the farm, the art gallery, or workshop ; his- 
tory, current events; the massing of the literature and music of some special 
subject or special day ; the telling of stories that delight the children's hearts ; 
or the discussion of some problem of vital significance in the community life 
of the school. Therefore the exercises instead of interfering with the school 
work, emphasize, reinforce, and vitalize it ; give it purpose and form and fur- 
nish the best test of the children's growth and power to think and of their 
skill in expression. 

SPECIFIC AIMS. 

1. To provide opportunity and suitable material for the exercise of oral 

language. 

2. To stimulate the children to use that material. 

3. To train them in the right use of oral language. 

4. To develop the use of written forms from the oral. 

5. To make a conscious connection between oral language and the other lan- 

guage subjects, reading, writing, spelling, and phonics. 

6. To discover the appropriate correlation which exists between oral expres- 

sion and the manual arts and to train children in their use as modes of 
expression. 

OUTLINE ON SUBJECT MATTER. 

1. COMMUNITY LIFE. 

Continued from, the kindergarten program. — The same interest in social 
activities which the kindergarten fosters in its daily program should be con- 
tinued in the first grade. Here it should receive a more detailed treatment in 
the form of units of study around which may be grouped the technical subjects 
of the first-grade curriculum. 

The child's home. — Reports of the child's observation of his own house, its 
color, size, and general appearance, of the different rooms in his house, the 
furniture in each, and its specific purpose offer excellent material for these 
units of study. 

Home aetivities. — According to statistics, about 50 per cent of the children 
in the first grade set the table at home, 50 per cent wash the dishes, and 100 
per cent wipe the dishes. Discussions in the schoolroom regarding these homely 
tasks, the best ways and the necessity for performing them, will lift them 
above the plane of drudgery they so often occupy in the child's mind, and will 
afford at the same time a most opportune occasion for training in oral language. 
Especially is this true of children of foreign parentage who are groping blindly 
for expression in an alien language. A few odds and ends of dishes will supply 
material for an exercise on setting and unsetting the table, washing and wiping 
dishes, and putting them away, which will form an objective basis for this work 
in the schoolroom. 



32 



A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 



Luncheon penocl^.-m the kindergarten a luncheon period has been part of 
n.' TrTr"^. '^''' '"^'^"^"^ ""^ h'^« b^«" «f gr^^t value as a train- 
ind .VfwTv n '"' ''''^''"'- ^°«^ ^^« l^^^'^ ^'^ten. di.hes washed , 

and set away, crumbs brushed, tloor swept, and room tidied. Children have ^1 
been encouraged to talk freely during this period of their interests and ex- 

TM^ZIV ."^'"J "^'^ '""'^ '"^ ^^ ^''^'^'^ ^^^ P^-«fit in this school. 

This luncheon period should be continued in the first grade and should become 
an integral part of every primary school program. Exercises of this kind re- 
peated day after day not only train in oral language but are sure to carry over 

community''"^ ' ""^ ^^^ '^'^"^ ^""^ ^"^ "^^^^ *''" ^^"'^ ^^^^"^ ''' ^ '"^^''^ 

• ^.T^'J^f ^■"''''^''''* spons.-ms games and vacation sports fill a large place 
in the child g world and should find some recognition in his school life. Visits 
to the country, fishing and swimming, playing Indian and cowboy, and the 
games of hide-and-go-seek and hunt-the-thimble are among the activities most 
often recorded in first-grade reports on out-of-school activities. The child 
comes into the schoolroom from this life of freedom, from a home where every 
variety of household activity is being carried on, and all too often spends 
his day m school In the manipulation of symbols and in abstract drills on 
technical subjects. 

2. NATURE STUDY LESSONS. 

Gardening and kindred suhjecU.-ln the making of a garden there are many 
openings for the highest type of oral language training. The question, "Who 
has a garden?" calls forth an animated response in any first-grade class of 
children who are full of this subject in the spring of the year and are more 
than willing to " talk it over " with an appreciative teacher. She has but to 
follow their lead to find herself borne along on the impetus of their enthusiasm. 

A wonderful incentive is this, the making of a garden, to develop a unity 
of interest and a desire on the part of the children to express this interest. 
Our oral language is so apt to become static and fixed, or to be neglected 
entirely, that the teacher should be on the qui vive to utilize every bit of 
this desire that springs up in her class and should remember that the more 
spontaneous the response, the greater its value. 

How vital the.se kindred subjects are for every grade in the school- Bird 
boxes in the garden, and what to do with the English sparrow; how is this 
little savage of bird life responsible for the depredations of the Tussock moth • 
the household cat, and his relation to the fruit trees in the garden • the eco- 
nomic value of the American toad ; and so on through many phases of these 
natural phenomena. 

Preparation of teachers.— How may one dare to put this question " What 
must we have in our garden?" to a group of wide-awake, active, little children^ 
Only by having In the back of one's head a carefully prepared outline on garden 
making, a series of problems to set these children to work upon, and materials 
on one's closet shelf for experiments to.^atisfy the eager questions of this little 
group of agriculturists. Ai-med with but a single book, that of Hodge's Nature 
Study and Life, and a few bulletins from the Department of Agriculture with 
an open mind and a willing spirit the teacher may become well prepared to meet 
these questions. With her outline ready, her data at hand, into what fertile 
fields may she not walk with these earnest little disciples. Speech shall be 
golden, since it shall express all the wonder and all the delight which these 
eager little children shall have discovered in the magical truths of nature 



LANGUAGE. 33 

METHODS. 

How to use this material. — A free and open discussion of these subjects 
logically leads to the formulating of a series of sentences by the class which may 
be used later as reading lessons and as written language material throughout 
the year. 

The teacher stands before her class at the blackboard, chalk in hand, and 
the lesson proceeds as informally as possible. As she develops these lessons, 
the teacher should use the question method, and should draw out the answers to 
her questions fi'om the pupils in a spontaneous and spirited manner. Where 
items of information are necessary she should supply them, in story form if 
possible, before the children begin to formulate the sentences. Two elements 
should be in the teacher's mind, a limited vocabulaiy and much repetition, as 
she works with the class in the formation of sentences. 

WRITTEN LANGUAGE. 

Written and oral language and reading. — The development lessons in language 
and reading which are recommended, both in this chapter and in the chapter on 
reading, combine these three modes of expression into a complete unit and 
illustrate a fundamental pedagogical principle. The three forms are inseparable 
and should be taught at one and the same time. 

In these lessons the child's vocabulary, both oral and written, is enlarged, 
his ungrammatical expressions are corrected, and his power to form clear and 
concise statements is developed. Here also is the opportunity for the organiza- 
tion of the story or narrative into a logical sequence of events, for the stressing 
of important points, and for the elimination of unrelated details. 

Written language and penmanship. — The closest correlation between written 
language and penmanship should exist in the early work in these subjects. 
Writing is a mode of expression and should be taught as such in the first grade. 
The child should spring to the board under the impulse of an idea and attempt 
to express that idea in viriting. It may be only an isolated word from his 
reading lesson, a phrase, or a simple sentence, but there is a thought back of 
it which he is seeking to express to others. If he forms this habit early, nine- 
tenths of the difficulties of written language are avoided. 

If, on the other hand, writing is first presented to him as a technical sub- 
ject, and the isolated forms of penmanship precede the use of writing as a 
mode of expression, habits are formed and an attitude of mind is cultivated 
which persist during all the child's later work in written language. 

Vocabulary is the child's stumbling block in his early work in written lan- 
guage. To remove this the teacher may stand at the board and may supply 
any word which the child may need by writing it on the board as he quietly 
asks for it. 

The subject matter for these early lessons in written language should be 
extremely simple. No involved story should be used as a basis for written re- 
production in the first grade. The fable is a direct statement of a single action 
and its immediate consequence. It can be reduced to three or four short, con- 
cise statements, and affords for this reason appropriate material for early 
written reproduction. A list of fables for this work is included here, with 
a bibliography of readers where each may be found and may be used as reading 
lessons also in connection with the written language. 



34 



A KINDERGARTEN-riEST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 



LIST OF FABLES. 



The Lion and the Mouse. 

Merrill Readers, 2. (Dyer and 
Brady.) 

Baker and Carpenter. (Macmillan.) 

Horace Mann. (Longmans, Green & 
Co.) 

Carroll and Brooks. 2. (Appleton.) 

Baldwin and Bender. 1. A. B. C. 

Child Classic, 1. (Bobbs-Merrill.) 

Classic Fables. (Maynard and Mer- 
rill.) 
The Wind and the Sun. 

Hill Readers 1. (Ginn.) 

Howe, P. (Scribner.) 

Life and Literature, 2. (Daub & Co.) 

Haliburton, 1. (D. C. Heath.) 

Finck, 1. (Ginn.) 

Carroll and Brooks, 2. (Appleton.) 

Jones, 1. (Ginn.) 

The Child's Word Garden. (Ginn.) 

Classic Fables. (Maynard and Mer- 
rill.) 

New Education, III. A. B. C. 
The Hure and the Tortoise. 

Classic Fables. (Maynard and Mer- 
rill.) 

Merrill, 1. (Dyer and Brady.) 



Th-e Bare and the Tortoise — Continued. 

Silver, Burdett, 1. (Silver, Burdett 
Co.) 

New Education, 2. A. B. C. 
The Field Mouse and the Town Mouse. 

New Education, 2. A. B. C. 

Progressive Road, 1. (Silver, Bur- 
dett Co.) 

Carroll and Brooks, 3. (Appleton.) 

Haliburton, 1. (D. C. Heath.) 

Life and Literature, 2. (Daub & 
Co.) 

Baker and Carpenter, P. (Macmillan.) 

Classic Fables. (Maynard and Mer- 
rill.) 
The Fox and the Grapes. 

Classic Fables, 1. (Maynard and 
Merrill.) 

Holton-Curry, 1. (Rand, McNally Co.) 

Howe, 1. (Scribner.) 

Finck, 1. (Ginn.) 

Carroll and Brooks, 2. (Appleton.) 

Gordon, 2. (D. C. Heath.) 

Jones, 1. (Ginn.) 

Silver, Burdett, 1. (Silver, Burdett 
Co.) 



THK POEM AND THE PICTTJEE. 

The value of the poem as material for language lessons in the first grade lies 
in the appeal which it makes to the child's esthetic nature. It should be treated 
as a work of art and presented to the children by the teacher in the most artistic 
manner possible. The rhythm, the music of the words, and the swing of its 
measure should be left to make its own impression on the receptive mind of the 
child, without thought of analysis or discussion. 

The same may be said of pictures. The term " picture study " should not 
be used in the first grade, nor should it be attempted until the children are 
much older. Copies of great pictures may be used to enhance the study of some 
subject by presenting an idea in graphic form where grace of line and charm 
of composition are emphasized, but the value of this is lost if the children are 
urged to describe and to dissect their impressions of the picture. 

The materials for the poems read and the pictures presented should be chosen 
with reference to their relation to the project which is being worked out by 
the teacher and her children, or for the mere joy of hearing or seeing an artistic 
composition. Several collections of poems and lists of pictures should be in 
every schoolroom, from which the teacher may select as the occasions arise. 



ATTAINMENTS. 

/. Nero Impressions. 

The child in the first grade has added to his interests and experiences through 
many sources: 

1. Field trips and nature observations. 

2. Contact with home and school life from a slightly different angle than that 

of the kindergarten. 

3. Books and pictures. 

4. Stories of many kinds. 

5. His more conscious attitude of respensibility to the community life in 

which he lives. 



LANGUAGE. 35 

II. Power of Expression. 

In addition to the power gained in the use of language in the kindergarten, 
the cliild in the first grade has acquired skill in : 

1. Oral reproduction. — In detailed narrative and in the reproduction of a 
story as a unit or a single piece of literature. This involves: (ft) The organi- 
zation of the story into parts which follow each other in logical sequence ; ( ft ) 
the play of the imagination over the details of the story ;(f) the clear visualiza- 
tion of the setting of the story and the action which takes place; {d) the train- 
ing of the voice and the body to respond naturally and simply to the emotions 
which the story may arouse. 

2. Language. — (a) He acquires a new vocabulary ; (&) becomes familiar with 
phrases and sentences which will eventually assist him in proficiency in oral 
and written expression and in the forming of desirable reading habits. 

3. Manual arts and gesture. — Through these (a) the child gains the power 
to use all the arts as a means for the expression of thought; (b) he sees the 
rehitionship between gesture, painting, drawing, modeling, making and building, 
and the various phases of the experiences which he wishes to represent. 



Chapter VI. 
LITERATURE. 

By Florence C. Fox. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Tool subjects and content subjects. — Language and literature are so closely 
associated in the primary grades that the consideration of one involves a dis- 
cussion of the other. They differ widely in their function, however, for 
language is a tool subject, a mode of expression, while literature is a content 
subject, which in the form of story hearing by the pupil becomes a mode of 
attention or study. 

Language depends upon literature for one of the most important materials 
upon which to exercise its function, and this relationship should never be dis- 
turbed in the first grade. In other words, the tool subject of speech should not 
be treated as a subject of study in the early years of language training, as is 
now the case in the majority of classes in first-grade language lessons. Tools 
need to be sharpened, it is true, but continued use of forms of speech, carefully 
supervised by the teacher, will do more to cultivate ease and fluency in oral ex- 
pression than many months of time spent upon a formal training in the 
technique of oral language. 

The story as a basis for language training. — The story offers the best possible 
opportunity for training in language. It carries the child into a world of 
imagination and fancy. It builds upon the known element in his everyday 
experience and idealizes and enlarges that experience. 

In technical training it introduces him to new and better ways of saying 
things, to a wider choice of words where his vocabulary has been limited, and 
it reveals to him the many shades of meaning which may be expressed by the 
human voice. 

METHOD. 

Preparation of the teacher in story telling. — Skill in telling stories to little 
children should be as much a part of the primary teacher's equipment as a 
knowledge of good literature and discrimination in its selection should be. All 
the art of story telling which she covets for her pupils the teacher should her- 
self possess one hundred fold. 

Presentation of the story. — Simplicity and directness of appeal, with a fine 
sense of tone values, should characterize the presentation of the story. Says 
Chubb : 

The teacher must be a magician of all childish moods in the compass, from 
grave to gay ; able to touch lightly the minor chords that are needed to bring out 
the triumphant major passages. And this last and very imiX)rtant art she must 
likewise possess : The art of skillful repetition, of the refrainlike effects, the 
leading motives, which recall central facts and effects. 

Study of the story. — Nor does the teacher's responsibility end with the telling 
of the story, for a very definite consideration of its movement from one point of 
36 



LITERATUKE. 37 

action to another will assist the childi-en to organize its parts into a logical, 
literary whole, and will train them in that priceless accomplishment, the 
ability to form vivid mental images from hearing word pictures. 

This detailed presentation of the stoi-y which is advocated for the first grade 
should be a step beyond the more artistic treatment accorded it in the kinder- 
garten. Modes of expression should grow out of this study directly bearing on 
the various phases of attention which the story awakens in the child's mind. 

THE STOKY OF THE BILLY GOATS GRUFF, 

Type of story. — Merrill, in the Francis W. Parker Year Book, Volume YIII, 
says: 

Every story must be perfect in form as well as content. As an illustration 
in point, let us consider the Three Billy Goats Gruff. The structure of this little 
tale, as given in Dasent's Popular Tales of the Norse, is as perfect in its way 
as any of the great novels. First, there is exposition ; the Three Billy Goats 
Gruff are introduced — then comes the problem ; they wish to get to the hillside 
for food — then arises the complication; they must cross the bridge, and an ugly 
old troll that eats billy goats keeps watch under the bridge ; now comes rimng 
action; the Little Billy Goat Gruff, starting to cross the bridge, is challenged, 
but superiority of wit and intelligence win him safely through the suggestion 
that his brother will make a larger dinner. The next incident thus prepared 
for and thought is directed to it. The second Billy Goat Gruff comes and is 
challenged, and likewise proves equal to the situation, and thought is again 
directed to the incident to follow. Then we have the climax; the Big Billy 
Goat Gruff steps onto the bridge and utterly overcomes and destroys the aggres- 
sive, stupid old troll. The obstacle being surmounted, we have the resolution ; 
and the Gruff family get the food for which they started. 

The story is a unit; there is not an incident that does not serve the central 
idea ; cause and effect are perfectly balanced ; the arrangement of the incidents 
are perfect. The problem is suitable to children ; the outcome is ethical, for 
intelligence defeats stupidity and mere physical bulk. 

Rendition. — Much of the charm of this fine old tale lies in the refrain which 
occurs frequently throughout the story, and in the tones of the teacher's voice 
as she recites the lines to the children. " Trip, trap ! Trip, trap ! who's that 
tripping over my bridge?" should be given with emphasis and feeling and with 
increasing force for each repetition. Its dramatic quality is quite unusual 
and should be made so effective in the telling that the children will uncon- 
sciously imitate it in their reproduction. 

How to study the story. — After the telling of the story by the teacher it 
should be discussed with the children in a most informal way, but always 
with a definite outline in the teacher's mind. She leads the children un- 
consciously to organize the material, to visualize the different characters and 
situations, to dramatize the action, to retell important parts, and finally to 
tell the story entire, as an exercise in oral language. 
Outlining the story with the children: 

Part I. Three Billy Goats Gruff lived together in a cave. They wanted to 
go up on the hillside to eat grass and get fat. 

Part II. They had to cross a bridge to get to the hillside. An ugly old 
troll lived under the bridge who liked to eat billy goats. 

Part III. Little Billy Goat Gruff went onto the bridge first. The troll 
wanted to eat him, but the little billy goat persuaded the troll to wait for his 
bigger brother, the second Billy Goat Gruff. 

Part IV. The second Billy Goat Gruff went onto the bridge next. The troll 
wanted to eat him, but the second billy goat persuaded the troll to wait for 
his biggest brother. 

Part V. The Big Billy Goat Gruff went onto the bridge last. The troll 
wanted to eat him but the Big Billy Goat tossed the troll into the water and 
he was never seen again. The Billy Goats Gruff all went to the hillside to 
eat grass every day. They got so fat they could hai'dly get home. 



38 A KINDEKGARTEN-FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 

Logical sequence of study. — Through this exercise the children themselves 
have organized the story into five parts, or acts as they are called in the 
drama, and are ready to consider these five units in relation each to the other 
and to the whole. To visualize, to discuss and relate, and to reproduce is 
the orderly sequence of this study ; to call up the mental picture and tlien 
to describe it through the media of the various modes of expression; by oral 
language, graphic art, gesture, and later by written language; by whatever 
mode is most appropriate. 

Visualizing. — To visualize is the essential, fundamental principle upon which 
this training rests. " I believe that the image is the great instrument of in- 
struction," said Dewey, in his Pedagogical Creed. " What a child gets out 
of any subject presented to him is simply the images which he himself forms 
with regard to it." The teacher's part in this study is not to instruct but 
to help the child to form his image and to suggest and provide a suitable 
medium through which he may express that image. The following outline is 
suggested for this story and may be easily adapted to any other. 

Summary. — No story needs so complete an analysis as this outline suggests, 
and not all modes of expression should be used in one story. Some modes 
of expression are peculiarly appropriate for one story and some for another, 
depending upon the type of story, the teacher's convenience, her class of 
children, and the materials she may have at hand. 

Outline for the Reproduction of the Story. 

I. Visualizing Part I. — Emphasizing the background of the story. (Leading 

question : If you should draw a picture of the Billy Goats Gruff story, 
, what would you put into it?) 

Expression. — Drawing the story on the blackboard. 

Drawing. — If the children are encouraged to draw freely from the first day 
of school they will have no dread of what, to an untrained teacher, is 
a difficult task. Children draw as naturally as they make a gesture and much 
more naturally than they talk when the reproduction of a story is involved. 
" I can not tell it, but I can draw it," is often said by children whose natural 
aptitude for drawing has been encouraged and developed. 

Chalk modeling at the board is the best medium for this early work in 
drawing. Long, sweeping, downward strokes with the side of the chalk for 
vertical objects in a landscape, like the trunks of trees, side strokes from left 
to right for rolling country, and slanting strokes for hills and mountains makes 
this type of reproduction extremely simple for little children. The drawings 
are crude at first, but they gradually assume .correctness of form and propor- 
tion under the kindly guidance of the teacher. This method also gives full 
play to the free-arm movement so essential to good penmanship in later grades 
and is an invaluable' training in graphic expression. 

II. Visualizing Part II. — Emphasizing outline of form in size and shape. 

(Leading questions: How does a billy goat look? How does a troll 
look? etc.) 
Expression. — Cutting the story with paper and shears. 

Cutting. — This mode of expression represents the outline of the object and 
is one of the best modes for early work in graphic -representation. 

///. Visualizing Part III. — Emphasizing motion. (Leading questions : How did 
the biily goat walk onto the bridge? What did the troll do? etc.) 

Expression. — Posing the characters in the story. 

Posing. — This mode of expression should precede the dramatization of a 
story. Many children who have difficulty in acting can take the pose of a 
character. Diffident children will be able to take part in this simpler form of 
action. 

IV. Visualizing Part IV. — Emphasizing form and color. (Leading questions: 
What other animal does a billy goat look like? What color has he? 
etc.) 
Expression. — Painting with brush and colored crayons. 



LITERATURE. 39 

Painting. — This mode of expression is a difficult one for little children be- 
cause the wash of color must be kept within the outline of the object. If the 
outline is cut before the object is painted, it will not limit the stroke of the 
brush. Precede the painting with cutting of the object from drawing paper 
and when finished paste it on an appropriate background. 

Painting a landscape for the story. — Prepare a landscape in water colors for 
the background of the picture and paste the painted objects in their appropriate 
places. The wash of color for the background should be made with a sideward 
stroke of the brush from right to left, the upper half of the picture in blue for 
the sky and the lower half in appropriate colors for the different seasons of the 
year ; green for the spring landscape and summer, brown for the fall, and dull 
gray for the winter. Hills and level country are represented by the sky line, 
which is drawn in lightly with a pencil before the painting is done. Trees may 
be cut from green paper and pasted into the picture to represent the foliage. 

y. Visualizing Part V. — Emphasizing form and substance. (Leading ques- 
tions : How would you like to build this story on the sand table? 
How shall we model the sand for the setting of the stoi-y? Of what 
shall we model the Billy Goats Gruff and the troll?) 
Expression. — Modeling on the sand table. 

Modeling. — Sand table modeling represents the object more adequately than 
any other because the three dimensions can be expressed by it. It involves a 
study of form and size, and proportion in length and breadth and thickness. It 
sustains enthusiasm and intrigues the pupils' interest indefinitely. 

Clai/ modeling. — Building upon the sand table calls for the representation 
of objects in bulk which should be expressed through the clay or plasticene 
medium. In this connection clay modeling has an unusual value because a 
compelling motive lies back of. the work. The content of the picture is in the 
child's mind and not a representation of the form only. 

YI. Visualizing Part V. — Emphasizing action. (Leading question: Now we 
have finished the story ; how would you like to play it? etc.) 

Expression. — Dramatizing the story. 

Dramatization. — Much of the value of this exercise lies in the opportunity 
for initiative and resourcefulness which it affords. The children should be as 
free as possible during this period. After a leader has been selected he should 
be held responsible for the representation of the play. He should assign the 
different parts and instruct the characters. If his effort fails, another leader 
should make an attempt to organize the story into dramatic form and to pre- 
sent it before the school. " Hands off " should be the teachers' slogan if she 
desires to cultivate initiative in her pupils. A pantomime may be organized 
by a group of children outside the classroom and after presentation the class 
may guess the name of the story that has been dramatized. 

VII. Visualising Parts I, IT, III, IV, V. — Emphasizing oral expression. (Lead- 
ing questions: Who would like to tell the story? etc.). 

Expression. — Telling the story. 

Oral expression. — A distinct motive should lie behind the work in oral lan- 
guage. Artificial and unnatural attitudes toward this exercise are fostered if 
the child is asked to stand before the class and repeat time after time a story 
with which the class is already familiar. He feels that he is being trained 
and is conscious of it and usually resents it; at least it tends to make him 
self-conscious, and robs the exercise of all spontaneity and pleasure. Many 
motives may be used to put joy into this exercise ; to tell a story about a picture 
he has drawn on the board ; to tell a story to a visitor ; to a class in another 
room ; at home to mother or father ; or to a pupil who has been absent. 

Children who have difficulty in oral expression may be asked to give the 
entire story, and those who are proficient to help others by giving parts. 
Grammatical errors can be corrected while the pupil is giving the story unless 
this tends to make him self-conscious; then the correction should be deferred 
until he has finished. 

BIBLIOGEAPHY. 

Studies in education: Francis W, Parker School. 
Festivals and plays: Chubb. 
Teaching of language : Chubb. 
Nature study and life : Hodge. 
Nature study : Jackman. 

The Fox manual for teaching reading : Florence C. Fox. 
The poem. — Poems should be used. 



40 



A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GEADE CURRICULUM. 



FIBST AND SECOND EEADEBS WHERE THESE STORIES MAY BE FOUND. 

Folk-Lore with Cumulative Element. 
For Oral Language and Reading, 



The Little Red Hen: 

Graded classics, 1. (B. F. Johnson.) 

Hill readers, 1. (Ginn.) 

Baker and Carpenter, 1. (Macmillan.) 

American school readers, 1. (Mac- 
millan.) 

Beacoa readers, P. Ginn beacon read- 
ers — I. 

Horace Mann, P. (Longmans, Green 
& Co.) 

The beginner's reader, P. (Houghton 
Mifflin.) 

The riverside reader, 1. (Houghton 
Mifflin.) 

The Arnold primer. (Silver, Burdctt 
& Co.) 

Progressive road, L (Silver, Burdett 
& Co.) 

New education, III. A. B. C. 

Carroll and Brooks, 1. (Appleton.) 

Elson, reader, 1. (Scott, Foresman & 
Co.) 

Child classics, 1. (Bobbs^Merrill.) 
The Three Bears: 

Graded classics, 1. (B. F. Johnson.) 

Helton, P. (Rand, McNally & Co.) 

Holton-Curry, 1. (Rand, McNally & 
Co.) 

Baker and Carpenter, 1. 

The Blodgett readers, 1. 

The national method, 1. 

Carroll and Brooks, 2. 

The beginner's reader, 
Mifflin.) 



(Macmillan.) 
(Ginn.) 

(Scribner.) 
(Appleton.) 
1. (Hougton 



Th^ Three Bears — Continued. 

Progressive road, 1. (Silver, Burdett 
& Co.) 

The Merrill readers, P. (Dyer and 
Brady.) 
The Three Billy Goats Gruff: 

Holton-Curry, 2. (Rand, McNally 
& Co. 

Baker and Carpenter, 1. (Macmillan.) 

Beacon readers, 1. (Ginn.) 

Horace Mann, 1. (Longmans, Green 
& Co.) 

Carroll and Brooks, 2. (Appleton.) 

The Elson readers, 1. (Scott, Fores- 
man & Co.) 
The Old Woman and Tier Pig: 

Graded classics, 1. (B. F. Johnson.) 

Baker and Carpenter, 1. (Macmillan.) 

American school readers, 1. (Mac- 
mDlan.) 

Beacon readers, 1. (Ginn.) 

Horace Mann, P. (Longmans, Green 
& Co.) 
The Three Little Pigs: 

Graded classic, 1. (B. F. Johnson.) 

Baker and Carpenter, P. (Macmillan.) 

Beacon readers, P. (Ginn.) 

The Gordon readers, 2. (D. C. Heath.) 

Progressive road, 2. (Silver, Burdett 
& Co.) 

The national method, 2. (Silver, Bur- 
dett & Co.) 

The Merrill readers, 1, (Dyer and 
Brady.) 



Chapter VII. 
INDUSTRIAL AND FINE ARTS. 

By Mabion S. Hanckel and Ella Victoria Dobbs. 



As the sole value of life in school is its influence on life outside, the aim 
of this course will be to promote only such projects, in the constructive arts 
as will carry over into the children's interests and lives outside as well as 
inside tne school. 

This course is designed to help young children to achieve " social ideals and 
skills," as well as the " use of such tools and materials as will best serve to 
introduce them to the larger life." To accomplish this, the materials chosen 
will " provide experiences which lead toward the arts, industry, and sciences." 
The materials will not only stimulate activity and thought, but will encour- 
age the working out of projects which will call Into play other school subjects 
and art. 

As it is the mission of art to teach a love of beautiful things, clothes, 
houses, and other surroundings, to the end that life may be richer and more 
full of beauty, it is hoped that this course will further this mission, so that 
the children's lives may grow into gi-eater harmony with such purposes and 
ideals. 

GENERAL AIMS. 

To develop appreciation, especially of material surroundings. 

To foster a love of beauty. 

To satisfy the desire to express ideas and to create. 

To clarify thought through expression. 

To provide experiences which lead toward the arts, industry, and sciences. 

SPECIFIC AIMS. 

To develop knowledge of mastery over material surroundings through manip- 
ulation and experimentation with common materials. 

To develop power of judgment through freedom of choice among various 
materials and plans in attaining desired ends. 

To stimulate self-direction through a conscious mastery of materials and 
processes. 

To develop ability to work with others in realizing a common purpose. 

SUBJECT MATTER. 

It is assumed that the children of the first grade have acquired, in the 
kindergarten, some skill in construction and decoration in relation to the 
needs and interests of their play life. In the first grade the projects worked 
out should be more complex, and greater emphasis should be placed upon 
technique, the appropriateness and beauty of decoration when decoration is 
required, and greater efficiency in cooperative effort. Some of the projects 
99905°— 22 4 41 



42 A KIZSTDERGARTEN-FIEST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 

should be such as to give children an insight into industrial processes, and 
others such as will afford opportunities for decorative effect. The exercises 
in the industrial and fine arts should not be set apart from each other or from 
the other work of a grade, but both alike should be concrete expressions of 
some phase of the subject matter of the curriculum. 

In a curriculum organized upon modern educational principles the subject 
matter is of a kind that can be worked out in project form, and that will stim- 
ulate children to expression of that type. In order to meet these requirements 
it must center about the children's needs and activities at the different stages 
of their development. The material contained in the chapter on subject matter 
has been selected in accordance with this idea, and the subject matter outline 
indicates what this should be for children in the first grade and in what respects 
it is an advance upon the work of the kindergarten, which was organized upon 
the same basis. With these ideas concerning the work of both kindergarten and 
first grade, teachers will be able to help children to work out projects of worth, 
appropriate to the environment and their own special needs. 

METHOD. 

Teaching is like playing a game. The rules are known, but the individualities 
of the teacher and the children, as well as the materials used, make the results 
vary considerably. Therefore the teacher must take as her point of departure 
a deep knowledge of children and materials, using the latter to develop " self- 
direction " in the children. 

She must realize the importance of keeping acts and ideas close together, so 
that the school arts needed will be an organic part of the children's activity, 
and of the school program as a whole. She must oi'ganize the work so that chil- 
dren will learn the elements of art — color, form, and arrangement — through 
decoration since they learn these elements better through decoration than in 
any other way. Through the repetition needed in designing they gain tech- 
nique in connection with ends of worth in their own experiences. In the period 
devoted to art the teacher should : 

1. Provide the right material, and know the possibilities of these and also 
the limitations that these will place on the children. 

2. Study the children so as to know where they are in thought and power of 
expression, and when they need help. 

3. Provide for freedom of choice both as to project and material, so that the 
material will exercise a stronger influence than the teacher. She should be an 
observer and guide but not a dictator. 

4. Exercise the leadership needed in helping the children to choose what is 
best for them at the present time and in the future. 

There is still much difference of opinion as to the amount of freedom that it 
is wise to allow children in carrying out project work, and how much the con- 
ditions make possible. Both the general procedure and the specific method here 
described assume the conditions, as to the number of children, equipment, and 
flexibility of program, to be such that the utmost freedom can be allowed. 
When first-grade teachers have to follow a rigid time schedule, the art period 
may be devoted to the initiation of projects which may be carried out by the 
children during the periods which are devoted to so-cnlled " seat work." The 
results obtained by the individual children may be brought together again in 
the art period and discussed and criticised. This discussion will give the chil- 
dren new standards for working independently. The use of the art period for 
project work will do away with the foi'mal art lessons which have no relation 



INDUSTRIAL AND FINE ARTS. 43 

to the rest of the subject matter in the first grade. Project work in the seat 
work period will abolish the purposeless " busy work " which a school super- 
intendent has thus characterized : " In it all there is no project nor problem. 
There is nothing in particular to be accomplished by the work that the child 
does ; it is simply to give him something to do, so that he will not bother the 
teacher and the class that is up in front attempting to do real work. The chil- 
dren who are at their seats doing busy work are getting very little of real edu- 
cation. There is no incentive to develop their initiative ; there is no project 
to pursue to a conclusion. In fact, the work that they are doing during the 
busy-work period has not only very little educational value but is stagnating 
to the life of the child." Assuming the right conditions, the steps in the process 
of working out projects in Industrial Arts would be as follows : 

1. Experimentation. In this the children as individuals make things sug- 
gested by the material or which are the expression of their thought. 

2. The children feel the need for projects of greater social worth than those 
which they have evolved, or for a better expression of the ideas which they 
have attempted. In consequence they experiment again for the purpose of 
improving their work. 

3. The children see the need of group cooperation and a more definite plan 
in order to carry out the ideas that are evolving in their minds. 

4. They may choose a group leader with whom they plan the work to be done 
and decide upon the individuals or groups who shall carry out certain phases 
of the whole. 

5. The children select the materials and do the work assigned. 

6. They check up the results, judge its worth, and plan improvements for 
similar projects in the future. 

The specific method used in any project will have two purposes : 

1. To help the teacher to plan carefully with the children in order that she 
may appreciate every detail of projects initiated by them and thus be able to 
help them so to organize their activities that real educational values may result. 

2. To help the children by providing opportunities to do, to enjoy, to learn, to 
sacrifice, and to share with others of like mind in work and play. It should 
lead them to increased self-guidance, social responsibilities, right obedience, 
and right criticisms. 

Since the project depends upon a real situation out of which various phases 
of subject matter develop in a natural way, it is self-evident that handwork 
materials and processes play a large part in project work and very often form 
the starting point for the project when the desire to have some specific thing 
prompts the attempt to make it. The projects undertaken may be either indi- 
vidual or cooperative. 

The suggestion which prompts the project vnll grow naturally out of some 
immediate experience which stimulates the child's instinct to imitate. Playing 
house and store are ideas always ready for active expression because of chil- 
dren's desire to do what grown folks do. Parades and patriotic celebrations 
will prompt them to organize parades of their own, and a visit to the zoo will 
prompt them to play menagerie. The advent of a circus will result in efforts 
to play the clown or the acrobat. 

In the successful use of the project method the children must feel the fullest 
responsibility for the whole process— the selection, the planning of details, the 
division of labor among the members of the group, the assembling of the parts 
and checking of results. The teacher plays the part of supervising engineer 
and as inconspicuously as possible keeps everything moving in the right direc- 
tion and sees that materials are ready when needed. She will be ready with 



44 A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 

a helpful suggestion whenever the work halts because the children have ex- 
hausted their resources or wheuever they are in danger of losing sight of their 
real purpose in some useless or harmful detail. By wise suggestion and advice 
she will keep the children from undertaking more than they can accomplish 
and will encourage them to persevere in what is undertaken until reasonable 
success is attained. These items, important at all times, are especially im- 
portant in individual undertakings. Nothing could be more disastrous than 
such a use of free activity that in any case a child should form a habit of 
flitting from one thing to another in response to whims instead of a serious and 
purposeful attention to the work to be done. Throwing all possible sense of 
responsibility upon the chUdren does not in any degree relieve the teacher's 
burden. It rather increases it in many respects. It affords greater oppor- 
tunity, however, for her to study the characteristics and needs of the indi- 
vidual child and suit the work to his needs and to help him to see the relation 
of his own work to that of the group as a whole. 

Projects involving handwork form the best possible foundation for develop- 
ing art appreciations through the desire to decorate. It is possible gradually 
to select from these concrete situations the laws which make for beauty every- 
where and at the same time keep the ideas of beauty closely related to the prac- 
tical everyday affairs in which beauty counts for much in comfort and happi- 
ness. 

Abundant opportunity for class criticism is of great importance. Newly 
finished work, both individual and cooperative, should be displayed for admira- 
tion and all the strong and successful points freely commented upon in order 
that the joy of accomplishent may be satisfied to the full. 

Later — preferably just before a new effort in a similar direction — the work 
done may be examined somewhat more critically in order to discover how the 
best results were obtained and to discover errors and weaknesses which may 
be improved in the new effort. If attention is centered on some one or two 
points the children will be able to note their improvement more definitely and 
in so doing gradually build up standards of appreciation. 

Representative art. — Fine art divides naturally into design and representa- 
tion. In class-room practice the element of beauty should be constantly stressed 
not only in matters of decoration but in general orderliness and fine, i. e., re- 
fined, behavior. Much more time will be given to design because it is an integral 
part of almost every process. Representative art, though less prominent, 
serves its purpose in pure enjoyment and in developing higher ideals through 
greater appreciation. The child's intense love of pictures and picture making 
offers the point of contact for helping him to see and to represent what he sees. 
At first his pictures express his imagery regardless of the facts. The sky and 
the grass in his landscape do not meet. He draws a gable at each end of his 
house and often adds the people who live within. His trees show many leaves 
often quite out of place or proportion. Children's inadequate expression may 
best be corrected through the use of illustration and sketching. Different kinds 
of leaves, fruits, or trees may be sketched until their characteristic features are 
impressed upon the children's minds. Children may be led to express action 
through drawing pictures of people running as in Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son, 
or as in the Gingerbread Boy. 

Criticism and appreciation of representative art. — Progress in learning to see 
grows by two factors. First, through comment and opinion. Children should 
be allowed the fuU. joy of creation and also the joy of examining each other's 
effort. By calling attention to the good points in their work the teacher may 
prevent the adverse criticism that would discourage further effort. To stimulate 



INDUSTRIAL AND FINE ARTS. 45 

observation she may ask such questions as " Which boy is running fastest?" 
"Which tree is farthest away?" In this way children learn that certain rela- 
tionships of size, direction, and placing give certain effects. 

The second factor in progress is example. While the teacher will not dis- 
courage free, honest expression by any disapproving look or word she will con- 
stantly strive to elevate taste through appreciation of real beauty. She will call 
attention to simple elements of beauty in pictures which children can ap- 
preciate. She will comment on beautiful colors and color combinations where- 
ever found — in flowers, in clothing, in sky or snow, in pictures — and by so doing 
help the children to build up their own standards of appreciation quite uncon- 
sciously. 

Developing technique. — The first step in art work — modeling, drawing, or 
cutting — is free expression. Since the children now under consideration have 
had the work of the kindergarten this first step has been taken, and some 
progress has doubtless been made in technique. (See chapter on Fine Arts in 
Kindergarten Curriculum.) The added development of thought on the part 
of first-grade children will make them feel the need for better expression of 
their ideas, and they will therefore be interested in the improvement of their 
technique, but this should not be made an end in itself. Real improvement in 
craftsmanship nmst continue to come through the children's efforts at free ex- 
pression, followed by comment and criticism to show how the needed improve- 
ment should be made. 

To secure improvement in technique without seeming to make it an end the 
teacher will need to devise progressive series of exercises in modeling, drawing, 
and cutting. The following suggestions for cutting will apply in some degree 
also to the other mediums. The children may : 

1. Cut single objects for the joy of doing it. 

2. Cut objects that can be grouped together to form a story. 

3. Cut objects that will constitute a poster, to be used as a book cover if 

desired. 

4. Cut pictures of fruits, vegetables, or flowers for the pages of a fall book. 

5. Cut paper dolls with appropriate costumes. 
Many similar projects can be carried out. 

Color work. — The children here under consideration doubtless learned color 
incidentally in the kindergarten as a result of their wealth of experience in 
the use of beads, pegs, crayons, paint, and paper. The work in the first grade 
will give them additional opportunity to use these colors, and as the work 
grows more complex they will feel the need for greater variety in the tints 
and shades. While progress will be largely incidental and closely related to 
other projects the teacher should have a definite goal in mind, and, if need be, 
create situations which make it possible to reach that goal by natural relation- 
ships. 
Applications. — 

Choose color combinations for book covers ; borders. 

Costumes for paper dolls ; valentines ; and other constructions. 

Plan for color effects in dramatizations and plays. 

Sketches in crayon and water color, related to school arts. 
Lettering. — This is introduced into the first grade by the use of rubber-stamp 
printing or the cutting of letters from squared paper. It should be taken up 
incidentally only in connection with simple projects that call for its use. 
Attention should be given to the spacing and arrangement of the letters so that 
proper standards may be set and right habits formed. 



46 A KINDERGARTEN -FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 

SUGGESTED PROJECTS. 

The chapter on subject matter contains many suggestions concerning projects 
that may be developed. Some of those mentioned were doubtless worked out 
in simple form in kindergarten, and suggestions are given to show how these 
same projects may be repeated to the children's advantage through the use 
of different material or by placing the emphasis upon new aspects of it. Among 
these thus discussed are the doll house, stores of different kinds, the garden 
and farm, the seasonal festivals, the park, the zoo, and others. Mostly all 
of these and others that might be mentioned would involve the working out 
of minor projects. The building of a house or store calls for the making of the 
furniture or equipment needed ; the celebration of the different festivals 
involves appropriate decorations; and the giving of little programs for the en- 
tertainment of parents or school associates might call for the making of cos- 
tumes by means of which stories could be more effectively dramatized. 

Other projects will doubtless be suggested in connection with the several 
lines of work. Among these may be sets of cards for number or language 
games ; booklets representing seasonal or other activities ; or articles for exhibi- 
tions of different kinds. As the year draws to a close the children might work 
up a program to be given at the school assembly, a local fair, or the representa- 
tion of a zoo or of a circus for the school or other invited friends. The amount 
of time to be devoted to any of these must depend upon the conditions and the 
importance attached to the type of work as compared with the other phases. 
The following projects were selected to illustrate types of work and the gen- 
eral method of procedure : 

PROJECTS. 

Nature-situdy book. — When the children are watching the growth of their 
bulbs in the schoolroom, it is interesting for them to make a booklet in which 
they keep a record of the. growth of the plant. The book should consist of a 
cover and separate pages which may be added to the book when a new record 
is made. The childi'en have already had some experience in the kindergarten 
in making books and in decorating the cover. In the first grade there will be, 
however, a more conscious use of design, and when the book is completed better 
technique in sewing the pages and the cover together. The cover of the book 
may be made of soft or neutral tints of mounting paper that will serve as a 
good background for the bright colors the children may choose for their original 
designs. Crayoning, painting, or paper cutting may be the medium used, but 
the same medium should be used on both the cover and the pages. The cover 
design might be a flower motif in paper cutting not necessarily derived from the 
kind of flower which is to be depicted in the pages of the book, but combina- 
tions of green and colors suggestive of flowers. The development of original 
units of design will grow out of the experimental cutting of folded papers which 
the kindergarten children delight in doing. The child in the first grade has more 
control of his scissors and will cut larger units from his paper, and make his 
results more conscious as he experiments. The advantage of paper cutting in 
securing a design is that the units can be moved about at will making different 
combinations before the final result is obtained through pasting the units. The 
title of the book may be printed by the children, and until the children have 
learned to do neat work it is often best for them to print the title on a separate 
paper and paste it in place. 

The inside pages would contain pictures of the plant and the bowl or flower 
pot in which it is growing. The drawing of the plant in its different stages 
will require real study of the object, which is an advance over the more 
imaginative drawing of the kindergarten stage. The children may print or 



INDUSTRIAL AND FINE ARTS. 47 

write the date under each picture or they may measure the growth of the phmt 
and record it as " March 11. My plant is 5 inches tall," or " March 18. My plant 
has grown 4 inches in a week." A sentence or a verse may be typed for the 
children to paste in the book such as — 

Till !i>ome happy day the buds 
Open into flowers." 

Toy money. — There are often individual projects which are related to the 
larger group project. When the children have constructed stores and are play- 
ing at buying and selling, there arises a need for toy money. This idea is often 
suggested and carried out by the kindergarten children, but they are usually 
satisfied with a very crude product. The children in the fli"st grade will wish 
to cut good circles to represent coin and oblong pieces for the bills. Out of. 
diversity in shape may grow diversity in size. Pennies, nickels, dimes, quar- 
ters, etc., will be cut freely or circles will be marked from an object and then 
cut out. The children may suggest the use of real money to use for patterns, or 
they may make use of circular objects in the room such as milk-bottle tops, the 
covers of paste jars, etc. In either case, they will begin to study the relation 
of size to the value of the coin. When numerals are placed on the coins, a 
child has gained a mathematical experience which will be further developed as 
he buys and sells in the play store. 

A toy wagon. — In the kindergarten the children invent crude wagons. The 
making of a wagon may have been suggested to them by experimentation with 
materials, or they may have been made in relation to a community project, and 
this idea of transportation will call for the making of wagons in the first 
grade. 

The kindergarten children often make wagons of paper construction that are 
merely for the purpose of representation. They also make wagons from boxes. 
Immature children are often perfectly content to tie a string in a box and drag 
it around for a wagon. 

The child in the first grade has a more definite idea of construction and a 
keener interest in mechanics. He wants wheels that will turn around whether 
he constructs his wagon from pasteboard or wooden boxes or whether he makes 
the entire wagon from cardboard or wood. The kindergarten child may be con- 
tent to fasten milk bottle tops to a cardboard bos with paper fasteners. The 
child in the first grade may experiment with this same material or may sub- 
stitute spools for the milk bottle tops. Whatever the material he uses, the 
value of the project lies in the problem it presents for solution. The fasten- 
ing of some kind of an axle to the body of the wagon, fastening the wheels on 
the axle so that they will turn around and yet not fall off, provide real 
problems for thinking. Where wood is used, it will of course be necessary to 
prepare the material to some extent for the child's use. Circular pieces for 
wheels, different shaped oblongs for sides, etc., and slender pieces for axles and 
tongues should be provided. The child should have to select the pieces, how- 
ever, best suited to his purpose. Some modifications such as sawng the long 
slender pieces the right length for axles, and boring holes in the center of the 
wheels should be worked out by the child. The test of the product is not the 
perfect result, but how much thought has gone into its production. 

VocaMilary book pfoject. — A group of beginners in a first grade wanted a 
book and a primer was given them. They were charmed with it and asked to 
be allowed to take it home. Since they could not read the stories they 
eagerly adopted the suggestion that each one make a book and put into it the 
words that he or she knew. This they could take home when it was finished 
to show their mothers how much they had learijed thus far. 



48 A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 

The children made the books one afternoon and for several days welcomed 
drill on the words they must be sure of before they were allowed to put them 
into their books. As a result they learned more words thoroughly and quickly 
than they would have learned in any other way. The children as well as the 
teacher decided on the strength or weakness of the individuals. They gained 
skill in making the book and pasting in the words — written by the teacher. 

Later another and more complicated book was made in which were pasted 
pictures of Baby Ray and his pets, and reading matter descriptive of the same. 
The children experienced the joy of accomplishment and an impetus was gained 
for further effort when after hard work they took the books home to show 
their mothers how much they knew, and why those words were needed., 

Through this common experience the group gained much of socializing value, 
and a community spirit was promoted. This was seen particularly in the will- 
ingness to help " the weak brother." 

A florist shop (carried out in a first grade as described.) — A child in the 
first grade who is a close observer and always ready with ideas, said that she 
wished we could have a florist's shop in our schoolroom like one she saw down 
town. She told the class how it was arranged. Her enthusiasm was con- 
tagious, and for a while many little voices were heard all over the room offering 
suggestions and planning for a florist's shop. Finally it was agreed upon by 
the class to have a florist's shop and to plant seeds and raise flowers to sell. 

The next day bulbs and flower seeds were brought to school, also pots, 
boxes, and garden tools. This led to a study of soil. The class was taken to a 
vacant lot nearby where they got the soil best suited for certain flowers. They 
were shown how to mix the fertilizer with it. 

After days of patient watering and watching, the green leaves peeped out 
of the ground. How pleased the children were. Day after day they watched 
with much interest the little plants as they appeared, and some of them kept 
a recox'd of the days the seeds were in the ground. 

By and by the time came for a sale. There were nasturtiums, pussy willows 
(which had been rooted in water), sweet alyssum. tulips, pansies, narcissus, 
morning glories, and jonquils. The potted plants were wrapped in colored 
paper which was very effective, and the cut flowers (brought bv the children) 
were arranged in baskets. Good judgment was used in pricing the flowers. 
These sales were patronized not only by the children in the class, but by their 
parents, by friends in other grades, and by some of the teachers. 

Practically all phases of the course of study were covered as the natural out- 
come of this project. Planning for it offered splendid oral language training. 
Much knowledge of nature was gained. Nature poems, stories, and songs 
naturally arose with the development of the project. 

Good thinking was done in connection with the handwork. The florist shop 
was built of bricks and blocks. The desk was also made of bricks and blocks 
with pasteboard cash drawers that could slide in and out. The boys made 
some of the flower boxes and a few clay pots. The girls worked on catalogues. 
Some of the flowers were free-hand drawings, and others were cut from cata- 
logues that were given them. The signs advertising the sales were illustrated 
posters made by the children. 

Reading was necessary to tell the names of the seeds marked on the pots, 
to read orders taken and the "sold " signs. The shop offered splendid drill in 
arithmetic. The shop-keepers changed and counted real money; they sold 
plants by the dozen or half dozen. 

This project proved valuable not only for the language reading, writing, and 
arithmetic which were necessary for its development, but it stimulated the 



INDUSTRIAL AND FINE ARTS. 49 

children to have home gardens, to take more interest in bringing flowers to 
school, and to report on walks in the woods and the wild flowers seen. 

A local fair. — The reproduction of a fair which tlie children have attended 
affords them an opportunity to express what they saw and heard. This can 
be given in a school hall or out of doors if the weather permits. Such a fair 
should be planned with little guidance by the teacher. She will provide the 
materials that will suggest things to do and how to do them, and help the 
children to organize the plan so that simpler forms will be attempted than 
they would be likely to select. Her aim is to give them opportunities for 
choice and failure, to keep them from becoming discouraged, and to help them 
to check up their results daily. The suggestions under " Method " will indicate 
what the general procedure should be. Opportunity for the use of the in- 
dustrial and fine arts will be afforded in the making of booths, posters, decora- 
tions, costumes, tickets, prizes, and souvenirs. 

The exhibits may form the first phase of this project. The teacher will 
help the children to recall the exhibits they saw and discuss with them the 
ones to be reproduced. These might include milk products, cattle and poultry, 
cooking, handwork, and school arts. In the milk products exhibit the children 
might sell milk, and make and sell butter to be served on crackers. Some 
means could also be devised to demonstrate the need of milk for all children. 

For the cattle and poultry exhibit the children might bring their own peta 
or toy animals. If this is impossible the animals may be made of clay, plas- 
ticene or cardboard. This would call for the making of coops for the chickens, 
kennels for the dogs, and stalls for the horses and cows, and would furnish 
an excellent point of departure for a discussion of the housing and care of 
these animals. 

The cooking exhibit might contain a kitchen and cooking utensils, and 
perhaps loaves of bread, cake, cookies, etc., made of clay. The children might 
make and sell lemonade and candy. 

The handwork and school arts exhibit will give an opportunity for each 
grade in the school to contribute something so that all the grades may feel 
that they have a part in the fair. 

The preparation for these exhibits would probably require about two weeks. 

The second phase of the fair project might be the side sliows. Here also 
the teacher and children together would discuss the side shows seen at the 
real fair, and agree upon the ones to be represented. The following ones 
might be agi'eed upon. A play composed by the children from a plot in some 
story they have heard or read ; a merry-go-round ; a trick dog or pony — the 
parts taken by children ; a tall man and a dwarf ; and perhaps a fat lady. 
It is well to have all the children take turns in practicing for these side shows 
for the joy of self-expression, and for the stimulation of latent talent in indi- 
vidual children. The children themselves can definitely assign the parts to 
individual children when the time of the fair draws near. The preparation 
for this phase would probably occupy a week. For materials for construction 
work see Kindergarten Curriculum, page 23, and for Art Materials, Kinder- 
garten Curriculum, page 35. 

Another phase of this project might be a track meet. This might include 
the physical activities carried on daily in school to give the children good 
posture, such as : 

1. The imitation of animals — birds flying, hopping, or walking; seals flap- 

ping their fins ; frogs jumping ; dogs running ; elephants walking. 

2. Somersault exercises, hurdle racing, jumping, or hopping. 

3. Simple singing and folk games. 



50 A KINDERGARTEN-riRST-GEADE CURRICULUM. 

Such a project may seem ambitious for first grade children, and it may be 
best for the grade to undertake only one booth or aide show, the other grades 
of the school contributing the remainder. If tlie project is kept simple it will 
afford many opportunities for growth along all lines that will touch the children 
and the community. The children will gain in self-direction, personal respon- 
sibility, self-criticism, and appreciation in its several aspects. Furthermore 
such a project should yield for the children a greater knowledge of them- 
selves, their needs and powers, and of animals and their care. 

The physical training necessary to perform even simple bodily exercises. 

The school arts needed in reading, counting, measuring, making and selling 
tickets. 

The skills needed to make and decorate the things required for the fair. 

The perseverance needed to carry on the work in spite of difficulties. 

ATTAINMENTS. 
Physical. 

1. The use of the body (hand and feet, etc) in freer, more coordinated ways. 

2. The ability to take out and put away materials in an orderly way. 

3. Ability to get the materials needed without disturbing others. 
Mental. 

1. Independence (self-directed). 

2. Ability to ask for help when it is needed. 

3. Ability to observe pleasing forms, arrangement, and colors. 

4. Direct knowledge and skill, which include ability to — 

(a) Solve problems in connection with industrial and fine arts, and the 

school arts, etc. 
(6) Persevere for an end of worth. 

(c) Find leads or stimuli for new projects. 

(d) Begin again, after having failed. 
Social. 

Ability to work and play with others, so as to grow in — 

1. Consideration for others. 

2. Cooperation with others. 

3. Initiative. 

4. Right obedience in social situations. 

5. Personal I'esponsibility. 

6. Right feeling of independence on others. 

7. Right feeling of respect for the opinion of others. 
Spiritual. 

The by-products of feeling, attitude, and appreciation, etc., which affect 
thought and behavior. 
In every lesson, the teacher's skill will be seen in her ability to ask herself 
the following questions, and act on her decisions : 

1. Are the children active (mentally and physically, etc.)? 
2*. Is the activity useful in the children's lives now, and probably for the 
future? 

3. Is the activity produced by the teacher or the materials primarily? 

4. What proportion of each, if the teacher is giving guidance? 

5. What results can probably be expected in habits? 

6. If the results are unsatisfactory, does the fault lie in the materials, or the 

teacher? 



INDUSTRIAL AND FINE ARTS. 51 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Adams, Helen M. When mother lets us model. New York, Moffatt Yard & Co., 1916. 

95 p. 
Bonser, Frederick G. The elementary school curriculum. New York, Macmillan Co., 

1920. 466 p. 
Clements, Katherine. Social application of painting and drawing. In Francis W. 

Parker School yearbook, Vol. 3, June, 1914. Chicago, Francis W. Parker School, 

[1914]. 
Dewey, John. The school and society. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1899. 

129 p. 

The child and the curriculum. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1906. 40 p. 

(Contributions to education no. 5.) 

Schools of to-morrow. New York, Dutton & Co., 1915. 316 p. 

Moral principles in education. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1909. 

Interest and effort. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1909. 



Dobbs, Ella Victoria. Primary liandwork. New York, Macmillan Co., 1914. 124 p. 

Illustrative handwork. New York, Macmillan Co., 1917. 223 p. 

Hill, Patty S., and others. Experimental studies in kindergarten theory and practice. 
In Teachers College Record. Vol. 15. January, 1914. New York, Columbia Uni- 
versity, [1914]. 70 p. 

Krackowizer, Alice M. Projects in the primary grades. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott 
Co., 1919. 221 p. 

Kilpatrick, William H. The project method. New York, Teachers College, Columbia 
University. (Fifth impression.) March, 1921. 18 p. 

Moore, Annie E. Pennies and plans. New York, Macmillan Co., 1919. 124 p. 

Montessori, Maria. The Montessori method. New York, F. A. Stokes Co., 1912. p. 86- 
104. 

Palmer, Luella A. Play life in the first eight years. Boston, Ginn & Co., 1916. 281 p. 

Sargent, Walter L. Fine and industrial arts in elementary schools. Boston, Ginn & Co., 
1912. 132 p. 

Scott, Calvin A. Social education. Boston, Ginn & Co., 1908. 

Tanner, Amy E. The chUd. Chicago, Rand, McNally & Co., 1904. 430 p. 



Chapter VIII. 
NUMBER. 

By Alice L. Harris. 



Before proceeding to the quantitative experiences of first-grade children, 
attention is called to the following abbreviated resumg of replies to an in- 
quiry made of kindergarten teachers in different cities regarding the quan- 
titative experiences of children in the kindergarten. 

The aim in the kindergarten is to awaken consciousness and quicken percep- 
tion in relation to quantity and measurement. These results are to be reached 
as far as possible, not through formal instruction but through seemingly in- 
cidental experiences which call for the following: (1) Comparing and judg- 
ing with regard to more, less, fewer, larger, smaller, etc., without exact 
measurements; (2) measurement by counting to find out how many; (3) 
measurement by units of length or surface, when needed. In schools with a 
large enrollment of non-English-speaking children the language work con- 
nected with the number exercises is as important as the judgment which the 
child forms and tries to express; hence in the kindergarten both perception 
and expression in regard to number provide a good basis for the later number 
work in the grades. The oftener the kindergarten teacher presents opportunities 
which call forth a perception of quantity and awakens the impulse to measure 
the quantity in some way, the better the pupil will be prepared to take up the 
work of the succeeding grade. 

All kindergartners seem to agree on the following quantitative experiences 
of kindergarten children : 

1. Counting: 

To find the number of children in the circle, chairs in the circle or 
room, blocks used, objects constructed, objects seen on walks, pennies 
brought in for savings stamps, squares in the 16 square fold, etc. 
This counting may sometimes be carried on to 100. 

2. Construction : 

Oral expression about the work in construction provides many oppor- 
tunities for language training in relation to number. The activities 
as suggested in the Kindergarten Curriculum would afford elemen- 
tary knowledge of the facts listed under the following headings : 

3. Fractions: 

Wholes, halves, and possibly quarters. 

4. Measurement : 

Length — long or short. 

Width — wide or narrow, thick or thin. 

Units — cubes, or bricks when used in building. 

5. Games emphasizing number : 

Muffin Man (1 and 1 more, 2 and 2 more, 4 and 4 more. " So 8 of us 

know the Muffin Man." 
Chickadees (5 — " 1 flew away and then there were 4," etc.) 
Little Indians— (10). 

Family, members — parents, children, brothers, and sisters. 
Sense games — feeling the number of objects. 

6. Time. 

From clock — short time, long time; how clock looks at 9 o'clock. 
From calendar— days of week. 
52 



NUMBER. 53 

7. Proportion — in industrial arts. 

Chimney too large for house. 
Furniture too small for room. 

8. Recognition of number. 

Groups — 4 children here, etc. 
All are agreed that the definite results expected are — 

1. The child's ability to compare and to state his judgments concerning com- 

parative quantity, size, length, etc. (more, less, large, etc.). 

2. Knowledge of number names and the ability to count as far as his school- 

room experiences call for. 

3. The ability to cut, draw, measure, and estimate. 

During the first year there should be no reaUy formal number work. The 
basis for such as there is should be the child's experiences and the knowledge 
of number obtained through this activities of home, school, neighborhood, and 
situations arising through these. While for the child it should appear inci- 
dental to these situations, it should be definite in the mind of the teacher. 

The child's number world is in his toys, games, work, and play. A child's 
interests and needs in relation to number are first expressed through the 
rhythmical activities of counting, measuring, and grouping. For the purpose of 
gaining power and skill, provisions for these should be in response to some 
definite conscious need on the part of the child, who should feel the reality of 
the situation. 

GENERAL AIM. 

To lay the foundation for that type of mathematical instruction which in the 
more advanced grades functions in its obvious need (1) as a tool for the actual 
business situations common to everyday life, and (2) as training in social in- 
sight through social situations common to all and special to no class. 

SPECIAL AIM. 

Through the various forms of motivated activities to build a body of mathe- 
matical imagery that shall form a basis for formal number facts and problems. 

To secure the child's grasp upon needed number facts through familiar ex- 
perience instead of through formal instruction and rote work. 

SUBJECT MATTER. 

The interrelations between subject matter and method in this subject seem 
so complex that they are differentiated with difficulty. It has been stated that 
we are dealing with the quantitative experience of this period of the child's 
life. Our subject matter, then, comes from utilizing such of the child's own 
experiences in school and out of school as entail some degree of mathematical 
work and supply the body of imagery that becomes the basis of his mathematical 
knowledge. It arises from (1) such social plays as playing store, post office, 
going to market, and other imitations of the grown-up world; (2) from such 
competitive games as ring toss, bean bag, dominoes, etc. ; and (3) from his rela- 
tions to other material to which number is incidental, such as measures. 

As regards mathematical facts and skills, this subject matter should include 
what a child first requires rather than a hard and fast number limit. To illus- 
trate, it is conceivable that a child might have a need for knowing that a 
nickel and a dime make 15 cents, or that a score of 9 and 3 make 12, or that 
the bank account had risen from $3 to $4.75, or that the food for the schoolroom 
pet cost 2 times 15 cents, an expenditure which would have to come from the 
fund of 40 cents ; and that this need might present itself before he had learned 
all the pairs of number which make 8. A number fact should grow out of 



54 A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GEADE CURRICULUM. 

its relation to some project in wliicli tlie individual or group is interested; 
such as dressing a doll, making a playhouse, buying a new picture or table 
cover, collecting money vv^ith which to buy seeds for the garden, etc. A child's 
daily life both in and out of school is filled with many such quantitative experi- 
ences. 

Based on a previous statement regarding the child's interests and needs, the 
following is an organized presentation of subject matter : 

I. Indefinite comparisons, and familiarity with vocabulary similar to fol- 
lowing : 
taller tallest smaller smallest, 

shorter shortest longer longest 

higher highest heavier heaviest 

lower lowest nearer nearest 

larger largest wider widest 

II. Counting for exercises in physical training: 
Number of windows in room. 
Number of papers or books for the class. 
Number of children present. 
Number absent. 
Number of boys. 
Number of girls. 
Number of desks. 
Number of stars in the flag. 
Number of hooks needed in wardrobe for girls. 
Number of hooks needed in wardrobe for boys. 
Stamps, marbles, number of buttons needed on clothes. 
By 2's, rubbers, mittens, always having in mind reason or motive for 
the counting. 
Children by groups of 2's or 3's, as in marching or games. 

Number of valentines needed for presentation to the kindergarten. 
Number of erasers, library books, etc., needed for a class. 
III. Measurement: 

1. Inch, foot, yard. — Experiences such as finding the height of 

a child in feet and inches, the dimensions of desks, the 
distance apart which children should stand in marching 
or physical training as distance from goal in game; 
measuring paper to cover books, yarn to tie number book, 
oilcloth for plant table, burlap for background for picture 
exhibit, rug for use in conversation period, decorations 
for special occasions, cloth for costumes used in drama- 
tization. Problem : Will the table go through the door? 
Can the chair be placed under the table? How many 
yards are needed to make curtains for the play theater? 

2. Pint and quart. — To know the difference between the pint 

and quart, relation of one to the other, also of the cup to 
the pint, e. g., a pint of milk contains two cups of milk 
for luncheon. 

3. Dozen and half dozen — In relation to things bought by the 

dozen, e. g., pencils, books, eggs. 
IV. Money. — Through experiences with stamps, car fares, newspapers, mar- 
bles, jackstones, buying school material, food, school lunch, 
milk, doing errands. Through school projects of collecting 
papers to sell ; buying and selling in play store with toy 
money. 



NUMBER. 55 

V. Reading numbers. — The pages in the book, street numbers, clock face, 
figures on stamps and bills, calender, prices of articles in 
stores and play stores, fire-alarm boxes, numbers on rooms 
in the building. 
VI. Writing numbers. — Writing numbers required in marking prices, making 
toy money, keeping accounts, keeping record of score games, number 
book. 
VII. Number series and combinations. — Counting is enjoyed as rhythmic sound. 
After control has been gained over number combinations, these are 
enjoyed as games for testing mental accuracy. 
VIII. Vocabulary. — Through experiences gain familiarity with a specific vocab- 
ulary. The foUow^ing is suggestive only, as there vrould be variation 
according to locality. 

square figures price 

cube add charge 

measure space receive 

equal middle change 

divide right admission 

length left count 

width corner . inch 

center edge foot 

opposite less 

METHOD. 

The teacher who is in daily contact with the problems of childhood in general, 
and of one group in particular, is the one best fitted to interpret conditions and 
choose the tools of instruction. There should then be as great variation in the 
teaching methods as there is variation in the conditions for their use, and these 
are endlessly changeable. A teacher with a sympathetic knowledge of child- 
hood and a scientific knowledge of mental life will focus attention on the child 
as the active factor who is to be given most careful consideration. 

In a large way method should be " situation by situation rather than process 
by process," with the object and the local problem the starting point. While 
in its universal school practice it may not always seem possible to thus relate 
the work in number to some procedure of interest, it is essentially important 
that the work be concrete, not merely in the sense of teaching by means of 
objects, but concrete in the sense that the situation is within the child's under- 
standing and one in which he takes a vital interest. 

Procedure must not be regulated merely by something to occupy a child's 
hands, that is, by merely visual inanimate objects. It must be a procedure 
growing out of the need of his thinking life, his acts, and experiences. In other 
words, it should be a motivated situation which is involved in his own life. 

There are certain principles of procedure which should be considered. These 
are: 

(1) The suggestion of the preceding outline of subject matter which starts 
out by (a) making indefinite comparisons, proceeding to (ft) counting, thence 
to measuring, etc. 

(2) The general procedure that number should be applied to (a) things 
tangible and present, followed by (h) things familiar but absent, thence pro- 
ceeding to (e) abstract numbers. 

(3) The presentation of the idea should be always through spoken language 
until the situation becomes familiar. 



56 A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GEADE CUREICULUM. 

There should be usage without much formal repetition until near the close of 
the year, when there should be summaries of simple facts' and practice for 
facility. 

ATTAINMENTS. 

1. Attitudes, interest, tastes. — At the close of the first year children should 
have an appreciation of the fact that arithmetic is not only sl^^ill in calculation, 
but that it satisfies the quantiative needs of life. This attainment is based on 
the supposition that throughout the year they have had abundant opportunity to 
express through imitation their intrinsic interest in the institutional occupa- 
tions of their elders. 

2. Habits, skills. — ^At the close of the first yean children should have 
acquired — 

A degree of self-dependence and initiative through having worked with 
things in expressing individual or group ideas. 

Familiarity with the foot rule, and ability to draw and- measure relatively 
accurately with it. 

Ability to estimate length and width of object in a limited way. 

Ability to follow simple printed directions ; such as, make a 2-inch square ; 
cut 4 inches of string ; cut two 12-inch strips, etc. 

Ability to follow simple printed directions, using such words as measure, 
fold, paste, count, build, etc. 

3. Knowledye, information. — At the close of the first year children should 
be able — 

To count by I's, 2's, lO's. 

To count backward from 20. 

To group objects — five 2's, six lO's, etc. 

To recognize small groups without counting, e. g., 2 marbles, 3 sticks. 

To recognize larger groups in a " dominoe " or uniform arrangement. 

To recognize a cent, nickle, dime, quarter, half dollar, and a bill. 

To know value of nickle, dime, quarter. 

To recognize numbers 1 to 100. 

To write them from dictation. 

To recognize the Roman numerals I to XII. 

To know through experience the meaning of %, i/^, Vi, +, — , =. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Harris, Ada V., and Waldo, Lillian M. First journeys to numberland. Chicago, Scott, 

Forpsman & Co., 1911. 143 p. 
Hoyt, Franklin S., and Peet, Harriet E. Everyday arithmetic. Boston, Houghton 

Mifflin Co., 1915. 
Klapper, Paul. The teaching of arithmetic. New York, D. Appleton Co. 
McMurray, Chas. A. Special method in arithmetic. New York, Macmillan Co., 1916. 

225 p. 
Suzzallo, Henry. The teaching of primary arithmetic. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 

1912. 123 p. 
Thorndike, E. L. The teaching of arithmetic. Chicago, Rand, McNally & Co., 1921. 

265 p. 
Weeks, Ruth M. Socializing the three R's. New York, Macmillan Co., 1910. 183 p. 
Wilson, H. B., atul G. M. Motivation of school work. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 

1916. 265 p. 



Chapter IX. 
PLAYS AND GAMES. 

By Gail Harrison and Luella A. Palmer. 

Plays and games are essential forms of education at 6 and 7 years of age, 
as physically, mentally, and socially the child is in a plastic state, and play 
exercise promotes both flexibility and control in all these directions. While 
the same types of activity may be continued from the kindergarten into the 
first grade, a year of kindergarten training will result in a desire for a more 
socialized form of play. As a child develops mentally and becomes less in- 
dividualistic, he desires to elaborate his play by making more definite rules 
and by including playmates. 

GENERAL AIMS. 

The general aims are similar to those stated in the Kindergarten Curriculum : 

" To develop physical strength, control of body, and ease and grace of 
movement." The kindergarten training has made a beginning in these direc- 
tions, and the first grade should continue the training by requiring a more 
organized and controlled form of activity. 

" To give training in social cooperation." Games are an important agency 
in developing social organization. During the first year should be given the 
preliminary training which is the foundation for later organized team work 
under a chosen leader. 

" To help interpret experience." It is through dramatization that a child 
enters most thoroughly into the experiences of others. He strives to develop 
expressive use of his body in order that he may interpret feeling. Dramatiza- 
tion stretches his vision, adds color and vitality to his personality, and arouses 
him to resourcefulness, enthusiasm, and standards. 

SPECIFIC AIMS. 

To provide time and place for physical activity, which is at this age neces- 
sary for physical growth and mental development. 

To promote free, joyous activity. 

To develop alertness of the different senses and quickness of response. 

To promote various skills such as will require bodily coordinations and 
muscular control for accuracy, 9\viftness, or grace. 

To provide an opportunity for the exercise of the instinct of imitation. 

To give training in originality through constructive use of the imagination. 

To encourage interpretive use of the body in facial expression, gesture, 
speech. 

To present opportunities for developing leaders who can organize groups 
to execute plans. 

To give training in doing one's share in a group to secure the success of 
the group. 

99995°— 22 5 57 



58 A KINDEEGARTEISr-FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 

SUBJECT MATTER AND METHOD. 

Subject matter is found within tlie various forms of physical activity which 
are necessary at this age to promote physical and mental health and social 
adjustment. This activity takes the forms of sense games, plays on apparatus, 
ball games, rhythmic play, singing games, contest games, dramatization, and 
dances. Arithmetic and word games vvill be discussed under other headings. 

Sense games. — The sense games played this year should require keenness 
or quickness of perception and a controlled or a quick response. They should 
be games in which the child measures his ability in relation to others. The 
following are types of such games: Little Indians, Magical Music, I say 
Stoop. When the children have gained a fair degree of control in playing the 
game, more difficult rules should be introduced or another game substituted. 

Flaps on apparatus. — For healthy muscle development there must be fre- 
quent opportunities for free play on slide, ladder, and rope swing. Balance 
boards and swing bar are also very useful. Such play should exercise the 
large muscles of the trunk as well as arms and legs; these are the parts of 
the body most needing a developing use without strain. There should be no 
competition connected with the use of the apparatus ; the aim is to develop 
vitality and courage without recklessness. 

Ball games. — Plays with a ball this year require better coordination of eye 
and hand, as, rolling a ball so that it will stop in a small circle or will knock 
another ball out of the circle. A game similar to tenpins can be played using 
only six pins; scores should be kept. A throwing game good at this time is 
Ring Toss ; the children can make their own hoops and standard. Dodge Ball 
and Quick Ball demand control of the ball, as well as alertness and quick action. 

Rhythmic play. — The rhythmic play of the first grade sometimes takes such 
free forms as skipping rope or jumping hurdles set at a certain distance apart. 
It is sometimes found in the singing games where words are accompanied by 
gestures, as in the King of France. More often the rhythmic play becomes a 
simple dance. For instance, if the children are playing brownies, they will 
wish to show how the brownie suddenly appears, how he works, how he tip- 
toes over the grass, and how he suddenly vanishes. The i-epetition of these 
different interpretative movements in a sequence with a climax constitutes a 
brownie dance. Other ideas that may be carried out in this way are such as 
the flying of birds, movements of animals, falling of autumn leaves. As one 
great value of rhythmic play lies in the free, evenly repeated motion, such 
plays should be carried on in a large open space. Where this is not pos- 
sible, the number of children taking part should be limited, to permit of right 
development. 

Singing games. — ^The singing games which call for the participation of the 
group are Oats, Peas, Beans; Pop Goes the Weasel; Neighbor, Neighbor Over 
the Way; The Seven Jumps; and Skip with Me. Examples of contest singing 
games are Jolly is the Miller, Drop the Handkerchief. Singing should seldom 
accompany games except when it is necessary to secure concerted group action. 
At other times it confuses a child's thought and retards the action. Used to 
excess, it may result in a habit of singing with poor tone quality. 

Contest games. — Besides the competitive singing games mentioned above, 
there are simple racing games and games such as Potato Race, Skip Tag, 
Crossing the Brook, Cat and Mouse. At the beginning of the year there should 
be few rules, but these should be clearly comprehended before an attempt is 
made to play. It is the children who should correct errors, not the teacher. 
The games for this age should test skill, speed, and control, but not endurance. 



PLAYS AND GAMES. 59 

Gradually the games should be made more difficult. No rewards are neces- 
sary ; the joy of accomplishment is its own reward. 

Dramatization. — The dramatization which arises in the fir.st grade may be 
the rather free expression in connection with activities being carried on in 
the classroom, as in playing post office or store, or it may be the playing out of 
an excursion, going on a picnic or to the circus, or it may be the more organized 
form which develops in the effort to interpret a story which has been heard 
or read. A list of the stories which will lend themselves to this type of 
expression is given in the chapter on literature. 

In dramatic play every true effort should be encouraged, however slight ; a 
child must gain confidence in himself to express without being self-conscious. 
He must lose himself in the part he is playing, put himself in the place of the 
other, assume the character and mood. A desire must be developed to give 
the best of which the child is capable, to improve at every attempt. The ability 
should be developed to offer criticisms and suggestions and to accept those 
which would improve the characterization. There should be no drill, no 
monotonous repetition. Increased power should come through variation, 
through additional touches to improve the new attempt. Creative and indi- 
vidual thinking will be fostei'ed by encouraging the children to make up their 
own dialogues. Conversations should not be memorized. Costumes may be 
introduced when the children feel the necessity for more clearly defining the 
characters, when the costumes will aid in developing the mood to be portrayed. 
Reward comes in the joy found in team accomplishment and in the knowledge 
that pleasure is being given to others. Real dramatic work generates an 
atmosphere in which each person is either a dynamic and dramatic imperson- 
ator or a creative and dramatic listener with the imagination stirred. 

Dances. — Besides the interpretative dances mentioned under rhythmic play, 
there are other dances which children can originate by making expressive 
movements to accompany instrumental mustc. Music as the Chimes of Dun- 
kirk, Ladita, Indian music, portray mood and with marked rhythm, so that 
children will quickly and joyously decide on a sequence of movements to 
accompany them. Original dances may be composed in response to some in- 
tensely delightful occasion, as bringing in the Christmas tree or raising the 
trimmed maypole. 

As often as possible games, with the exception of dramatizations, should be 
played out of doors, even in cold weather. When they must be carried on in- 
doors the windows should be opened to admit fresh air. As many children as 
can comfortably do so should take part in a game ; the limit should be the 
largest number to whom it is pQssible to give the training which cgmes through 
the game. Children should never feel that a game has such a finished form 
that it can not be improved ; games which are used often and never varied lose 
their educational value. Suggestions should be encouraged for new ways of 
using apparatus, for better characterization in dramatic play, for rules re- 
quiring more skill in contest games, for more graceful dancing steps. 

ATTAINMENTS. 

Attitudes, interests, tastes: Appreciation of health, strength, and grace. In- 
terest in improving control over the body to make it stronger or more graceful, 
in testing the degree of control gained, in occupying leisure moments for prac- 
tice, in developing the qualities that make for leadership, in proving adequate 
to the share assigned in group play. 

Habits, skills: Sureness and grace of movement. Alertness to surroundings. 
Ability to act upon directions. Control in order to accomplish individual or 



60 A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 

group purpose. Assistance in making group rules and abiding by them. Doing 
one's best under all conditions. Acceptance of fair defeat uncomplainingly. 

Knowledge, information: Facts acquired through dramatization. Ways to 
control bodily movement. Qualities necessary to function effectively in a 
group, or to become a wise leader. Fair play and justice. 

Of all people, children are the most imaginative. They abandon themselves 
without reserve to every illusion. No man, whatever his sensibility may be, is 
ever affected by Hamlet or Lear as a child by the story of Red Riding Hood. 
The child imagines himself to be the character ; the actor does not. The trained 
intelligence of the actor interprets the character to the observer. — E. H. Sothern. 

BIBUOGBAPHY. 

Bancroft, Jessie. Games for playground, home, school, and gymnasium. New York, 
Macmillan Co., 1918. 

Burchenal, Elizabeth. Folk dancing and singing games. New Yort, G. Schirmer. 1909. 

Cabot, Richard C. The soul of play. New York, Playground and Recreation Associa- 
tion of America. (Pamphlet.) 

Chubb, Percival. Value and place of fairy tales in the education of children. In Na- 
tional Education Association. Proceedings, 1905. p. 871. 

Cook, II. Caldwell. The play way. New York, F. A. Stokes Co., 1917. 367 p. 

Cooke, Flora J., and others. The social motive in school work, /n The Francis W. 
Pai'ker School yearbook. Vol. 1. June. 1912. Chicago, Francis W. Parker School 
[1912]. 139 p. 

' The morning exercise as a socializing influence. In The Francis W. Parker 

School yearbook. Vol. 2. June, 1913. Chicago, Francis W. Pariier School [1913]. 
197 p. 

Curtis, Eilnora W. The dramatic instinct in education. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co. 
[1914]. 245 p. 

Gesell, Arnold L., and Gesell, Beatrice C. The normal child and primary education. 
Boston, Ginn & Co., 1912. 342 p. 

Hall, Stanley G. Youth. New York, D. Appleton Co., 1906. 379 p. 

Ileniger, Alice. The kingdom of the child. New York. E. P. Button Co., 1920. 480 p. 

Hill, Patty S. Kindergarten plays and games. In Kindergarten Review, 16 : 640-42 
[1916]. Springfield, Mass. 

Johnson, George E. Education by plays and games. New York, Macmillan Co., 1907. 
p. 234. 

I>ee, Joseph. Play in education. New York, Macmillan Co., 1915. 500 p. 

Palmer, Luella A. Play life in the first eight years. Boston, Ginn & Co., 1916. 281 p. 



Chapter X. 
MUSIC. 

By COKINNE Bkown. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Appreciation of any art is a matter of slow growth and education and is de- 
veloped by close association with its masterpieces. 

The value of the kindergarten to the educational system lies in its success 
in providing for children opportunities for social and cultural experiences that 
the home can not guarantee, and without which the more formal work of the 
grades loses much of its meaning. To the music education of children the 
kindergarten contributes opportunity to participate in music expression through 
singing and rhythm. 

Not being held to a definite course of study nor restricted to a daily time 
distribution, the kindergarten teacher can select her songs, from the standpoint 
of art rather than drill, and can be guided in the selection by the interests and 
experiences of her children. 

The greater freedom that is made possible by the movable furniture of the 
kindergarten room, and the assured presence of a piano, give an opportunity 
for rhythm work that few first grades enjoy. Thus, in the kindergarten may 
be developed a musical taste and expression among the children that give the 
teacher of first-grade music the beginnings of a cultural foundation upon which 
may be built the superstructure of more formal music education. 

It must be remembered, however, by those who are teaching reasons and rules 
that that taste and expression need continually to be developed and strength- 
ened. Music teachers should never forget that joy is the greatest contribu- 
tion of music to education, and that the pleasure children take in it is the 
measure of their ability to understand its formal side. 

In the first grade, children should become conscious of the process in that 
which has hitherto been primarily spontaneous. This new element applies to 
music as well as to number and language, and equal precaution should be 
exercised to see that the children's participation is intelligent, not merely 
passive, and their response thoughtful and not glib. 

GENERAL AIMS. 

1. To promote love of and joy in music. 

2. To develop a preference for good music, which can come only through 

acquaintance with it. 

SPECIFIC AIMS. 

1. To encourage pleasure in singing. 

2. To gain poise and bodily control through rhythm and dance. 

3. To grow in power to originate songs and dances. 

4. To become conscious of the fundamentals of music, melody, and rhythm, 

and their component parts, pitch, pulse, and the duration within 
pulse. 

61 



62 A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM. 

METHOD. 

Adherence to the general aims will be seen in the plan of work to carry 
out the specific aims. These will be taken up in the order named. 

Singing for pleasure involves the learning by rote of good songs and sing- 
ing them with clear true tones, in voices soft enough to be sweet in quality, 
but loud enough to be clear and not breathy. About 10 minutes a day for this 
work is advisable. The songs sung should be of a lively nature, should have 
a merry and childlike mood, or tell a simple story. Children brought up on 
Mother Goose in kindergarten may not need it here: to children without kinder- 
garten experience it is as good beginning material as can be found. Elliot's 
music is perhaps the best, but he has some very creditable followers. Some 
of the folk settings are good, as "The Fairy Ship," " Lavender Blue," " I Had 
a Little Nut Tree." Folk songs of a lively humor are excellent. There should 
be a very guarded use of nature songs. They seldom give the child's real point 
of approach and are likely to be either oversentimental or of such subtle humor 
that they are beyond immature appreciation. The expression of an experience 
either in one's own language or that of another tends to fix the experience, and 
for this reason seasonal songs have a real artistic value. If a song of the 
falling leaves is selected, it should be of the merry and not of the retrospective 
type. While children should not be asked to sing songs they dislike, the 
tendency is to like the familiar. If children are given metliocre material, they 
are thereby taught to love it. Sprightly songs are to be found in the Pro- 
gressive Music Series and in the Junior Laurel Songs. 

Folk rhythms are discussed elsewhere. In the opinion of many the rhythms 
are a little too marked to secure perfect response, upon which their beauty 
depends, from the 6 to 7 year old children. Simple skipping, skip-hopping, and 
running steps combined in figures after the fashion of the old quadrilles, but 
less formal, will be found more within the children's power to do well, and 
will give suggestions for original work. 

There are many simple combinations in the old square and contra dances 
which may be modified and recombined by teacher or children to great advan- 
tage. The little figures are rhythmic, but the rhythms are not so exacting as 
the clap, clap, clap, and the stamp, stamp, stamp of the folk dance. This 
kind of rhytJimic work has a better effect on the teacher as well as the children, 
since it calls for ingenuity rather than memory, and makes possible the use 
of some more beautiful rhythms than are found in the folk dance collections, 
such as Tchaikowsky Humoresque, the Nevin Gondolieri, the Schubert Moments 
Musicale, and many lovely gavottes, waltzes, and marches by standard com- 
posers. Another form of original music expression used to advantage by many 
teachers is the encouraging the children to listen to a melody and interpret 
its message to themselves in an original dance. Some beautiful work has been 
done in this line. While it lacks the social advantages of the dances cited, 
it has distinct merits in individual expression. If the work is to be educative, 
care must be taken that children work with a distinct idea, and do not merely 
copy the steps of a more gifted child. 

The composing by the children of little song sentences, both words and 
melody, has been successfully carried on by many teachers and is hig-hly 
recommended. The best work will be done when the motivation is strong, 
such as the need for special musical expression for a particular occasion, or 
when the eniotJonal glow of some happy experience is at its height, such as 
a new gift, a new baby, or going on a picnic. 

The formal side of music teaching is more difficult to handle. Care must 
be taken not to go too fast for the children and not to nag them. Their" 



MUSIC. 



63 



interest is lost if they are given too difficult work, or by going' too slowly. 
An effort should be niade to encourage intelligent appreciation. Without the 
love of music the understanding is nothing. 

High and low tones are so evident to adults tliat it is difficult for them to 
realize that children do not naturally recognize them as such, but are quite 
inclined to reverse their names as not. Of a group of 12 musical children who 
had been in kindergarten a year, and eight weeks in the first grade, only one 
recognized that two G tones played on the piano a second apart were the same 
pitch. Before children are taught the staff, the signature, and time values the 
teacher must make sure that they hear the difference between long and short 
beats and high and low tones. 

For basal material in formal music work, Calvin B. Cady's " Music Educa- 
tion," Part II, which contains a number of charming song sentences or any 
collection of song sentences will serve. 

The children will learn to sing a song sentence, for example. 



p-A^"^ 








/t ^ 








(t) -4_ ■ •" 


^^ ^ 


^ 


/-^ 


y ^ ^ — 


1 1 


1 1 


V-/ 



The teacher will tap it correctly, or mark with short rhythmic strokes on the 
blackboard, a stroke or tap for each separate sound, the length of stroke varying 
according to the length of beat, as 



The next song sentences learned will be of very different I'hythms, as 



^ ^ — 






f^ 


p 


(U^h r 




^ • ^^ 


— • ^ 




y yj 




i u 







Vr 


Yo 






^ 


II 


^ 


^ ^ 






P 


^iT - 




"^ 


tm .^ 






\ 


-f A tm 






- 




\- 




^ fm 














... . 


U 


^ r 


@ 





These put in strokes will be 



and 



The children will learn to distinguish between these rhythmic groupings 
until they can name each sentence as tapped, and in turn tap for each other 
to distinguish. The latter feat is much the harder. A dozen of these song 
sentences wiU probably suffice to give children an understanding of difference 
of tone length. But the teacher can not be sure of a child's knowledge unless 
he can give it to her, therefore the need of having him tap. Blackboard strokes 
will be beyond him, for they are only valuable when rhythmically dashed, and 
the first-grade child's blackboard technique is not sufficiently automatic. Drills 
of this kind should be given more or less frequently for the first three months, 
and less frequently as the year passes. They should never be allowed to become 
a bore. Boredom is death to sesthetic appreciation. 



64 A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GRADE CURRICULUM, 

Meanwhile the recognition of difference in pitch receives attention. The 
teacher sings two tones an octave or a sixth apart ; the children tell which is 
the higher or the low'er. As the power to hear difference of pitch increases, the 
tones given are nearer together, thirds, seconds, chromatics, and primes. Three 
tones as well as two should be given, with the tone asked for (the highest or 
lowest) sometimes in first, in second, and in third place. With this exercise 
should go a little drill of pointing in the air and blackboard writing. The 
teacher sings two (later three, then four) tones. The children point them as 
sung and write them in dashes on the blackboard. The teacher should insist 
at the beginning that the dashes be written from left to right in order sung. 
If she sings " Doh sol mi," the child should write 



The next step, which probably will not be taken for a week or two, will be 
to sing with the children one of the song sentences where the tones are far 
apart, the best perhaps being — 

Fly high my kite and touch the sky. 
The teacher places a dash upon the blackboard. " This mark say ' Fly,' where 
shall I write 'high'? Will it be higher or lower than 'fly'? The children 
hear that it is higher, then the teacher takes the next tone, and so the song 
sentence is written 



No attempt is made to indicate the rhythm or the relative distance between 
tones. It is enough if at first the children recognize higher and lower. When 
the children can distinguish without much hesitation, attention can be called to 
the similarity of pitch of " touch " and " my," and of " kite and " and " the." 
Similar situations will be observed in other song sentences. 

So far the work of about a half year has been covered. The children have 
the basis of the two fundamental needs of written music — time and pitch. Thj 
race was for many hundred years content to stop here. To make definite what 
the children have learned, the sol-fa syllables may be taught. At first the 
children learn merely that this is another way to sing the song sentence. When 
the syllables have been learned, it is easy to call attention to the fact that doh 
is always the same scale tone, as indeed are the others. This will help a great 
deal in the blackboard writing of high and low. 

In beginning the staff work the teacher will take the song sentence, " Gently 
rocks my pretty boat," and proceed as follows: 

We will draw the line for doh. The space above it will be re. Now let us 
write the song 

/ '/ ^/ ^/ 

Gently rocks my pretty boat. 
Suppose we w-rite " Hop, hop, hop, hop my froggy hop." We will have to add a 
line for mi and another for sol 



^ \ 



I 



I 



Hop, hop, hop, hop my froggy hop. 



MUSIC. 65 

In the matter of time there may be greater difficulty. Time conception is a 
stumbling block, as many music teachers can testify. Hitherto all the sounds 
of our song sentences have been tapped ; now the children will tap only the 
accented ones. These may be stroked on the blackboard, the accompanying 
syllables being written under the strokes. 



/ / / / 



We will call these notes one and the others* tivo or two and three 
12 1 2 12 1 

Gent — ly rocks my pret — ty boat. 

and 
Fly high my kite and touch the sky ! 
21212 121 

Let us draw a bar before every number 1. From this the children can be 
led to see that the drawing of the line does away with the need of numbering 
the first or accented beat. In the song sentence of the leaves, " Whirling and 
twirling I spin on the ground," we easily feel the three beats instead of two. 
1 23 123123 1 

Whirl — ing and twirl ing I spin on the ground 
and the meaning of the numbers at the beginning of each song is made clear. 
But though the number of beats in a measure is always the same, the number 
of notes may vary, so we will study such songs as 

Hop, hop, hop, hop my froggy, hop. 
Hot cross buns, hot cross buns, one a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns. 
In these we have the quarter, half, and eighth notes, and the division of time 
units can be understood. Some measures have two tones, some only one, some 
four, and some eigHt, yet all are given the same measure of time. The children 
can see that there is a need for some method of distinguishing the length of 
time a note must be held, and they learn of whole, half, quarter, and eighth 
notes. 

With this work will go practice of reading from the blackboard stafE groups- 
of notes, not more than four in a new melody, but the familiar melodies of 
song sentences may be entirely written out. 

This amount of work in the technique will be found to be as much as the first 
grade can cover. Indeed, the teacher need not be discouraged if the children do 
not go quite so far. The important thing is that the children shall be intelli- 
gent about the technique as far as they do go, that they can hear difference in 
pitch and rhythm before they are asked to recognize them in print. 

ATTAINMENTS. 

By these methods it is hoped that the following results will be achieved : 
Attitudes, interests, taste. — Intelligent appreciation of the fundamental of 
music ; interest in all things musical ; a preference for what is best in music 
from the immature standpoint. The appeal that popular music makes to chil- 
dren outside of school should be counteracted by supplying them in school by 
music that is full of color and meaning. Nothing has been said thus far 
concerning the appreciation that comes from listening to music. While some 
successful work has been done with young children in this line, their delighf 
is developed in a gi'eater degree through participation than through passive 
listening. It is for this reason that a " listening period " has not been included. 
99995°— 22 6 



66 A KINDERGARTEN-FIRST-GEADE CUEEICrLUM. 

Habits, skill. — The children will be able to sing sweetly and clearly. They 
will have acquired the ability to distinguish differences and amount of differ- 
ences in pitch, rhythm, and duration, and to indicate these differences crudely. 
They will know the reasons rather than the rules for the staff, signature, and 
notes. They will have greater bodily poise and control. 

Knowledge. — The children will know many good songs of both modern and 
folk variety, will be acquainted with many of the more rhythmic products of 
the masters. They will recognize some of the many moods that music may 
express and will appreciate the appropriateness of these expressions for specific 
occasions. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Cady, Calvin B. Music education — an outline. Chicago, C. P. Summy Co., 1903. 

Farnsworth, Charles 11. Education through music. New York, American Book Co., 
1909. 208 p. 

Hofer, Mari Ruef. Children'.? singing games, old and new. Rev. ed. Chicago, Flana- 
gan. 1914. 

Music for the child world. Vols. 1 and 2. Chicago, C. F. Summy Co., 1902. 

Popular folk games and dances. Rev. ed. Chicago, Flanagan, 1914. 

Miessner, W. Otto. The place of music in education. The Musical Monitor, May, 1917. 
(Music Monitor Pub. Co., New York, N. Y. ) 

Parker, Horatio, and others. Teachers manual. Vol. 1, for 1st, 2d, and 3d grades. 
Boston, Silver Burdett & Co., [1919]. (The progressive music series.) 

Taylor, David Clark. The melodic method in school music. New York, Macmillan Co., 
1918. 171 p. 

o 



1 



l1) 



